Red Dream
by midnightcherryblossom
Summary: Will Kadaj, Yazoo, Loz, and Sephiroth be able to handle what they brought to this world. Or will their new prisoners change everything they knew to be right. AC OC AU.
1. Chapter 1

A/N- a BIG edit has occurred… Yuck I sucked at writing! Hope you all like this version better. Enjoy!

Warnings and Disclaimers: I don't own anything. I don't even own Alexia and Alathia. Warning you now this is an OC fiction. Characters will be out of character sometimes. This will have romance between original/canon characters and my characters. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Prologue- Two best friends sat cross legged in front of the black television screen. Neither could believe what they were about to see! Months and months of waiting… and it was finally there. Advent Children was quickly jammed into the DVD player, and the two girls practically stopped breathing as they waited for the player to read the DVD. The screen swirled gray and soon, an image of a long silver haired man, standing in the middle of a blazing fire appeared. Eerie voices sung the Fallen Angel song as the load screen played images from the movie.

Alexia, the oldest of the two, pressed the enter and the movie began to play. Her big brown eyes took in the bright light and sounds of the movie as she gaped at the screen. Her long brown hair cascaded down her back and around her tanned face. The girl's lips were slightly parted and a little of her hair had managed to stick to her dry lips. Without a word, and with a quick flick of her wrist, all the hair fell neatly down her backside.

Alathia, the younger girl, chuckled at her best friend and continued to watch the screen. Her bright green eyes flickered about, taking in even the smallest detail as the people in the movie clashed swords and spat harsh words at each other. Alathia's soft, honey blonde hair sat in a low ponytail on her neck, therefore not distracting her from the wondrous movie. She laughed when Reno got his ass kicked, and her cheeks flushed whenever Kadaj sneered at Cloud.

"Wouldn't it be awesome if this stuff were real?" Alexia whispered, eyes still locked on the screen.

"Ya, haha, especially the status ailments! Like, say you ate something bad. It'd be hilarious if poison bubbles actually pop over your head." Alathia laughed back.

"Haha :D or when someone hit you, numbers of your HP fly out above your head."

The girls went on joking even after the movie was done. Night was creeping in, and the sun cast a red coat over the outside world.

Little did they know, once night over powered day they would meet up with people from the world they were so fascinated with.

Chapter 1 The notebook

A/N- EDIT:D Enjoy.

Alexia woke up with such a start that her eyes snapped open, revealing the world as nothing but a spiral swirl of darkness. She blinked a couple times so everything would quit swirling around her. Alexia reached up in hopes of touching something solid, but moaned when she only felt the cool air wrap around her fingers. As everything focused in the dark, she realized she was safe. There she was, panicking because she couldn't get the ceiling focused.

"What an awful nightmare." Alexia thought as she sat up to stretch.

As she moved, Alexia heard a familiar voice from below whisper, "You're awake too?"

She smiled and climbed down the ladder to meet Alathia, her best friend. They had encounters like this often. Alexia furrowed her brow after a moment of smiling dumbly at each other. A soft whispering in her imagination told Alexia to get dressed and go outside, but she shook her head to get rid of the constant nagging.

"Do you want to go outside?"

Alathia blinked, but smiled.

"Yeah actually, but… maybe we should wait until morning. I don't think this is right." She said, shivering a little.

Alexia's stomach lurched… something bad was about to happen. Her cheeks paled as a voice demanded she look out the window just past the beds. In the back was a football field. Her mouth fell open, and she yanked Alathia right out of her sheets and over to the dark window.

"What the…" Alathia whispered, her breath quickly passing through her slightly parted mouth.

The frantic girls turned on the light and got out as much memorabilia as they could find from the Advent Children movie.

Alexia had an odd feeling about a new fan fiction she was writing. Something in her head kept telling her to pick it up, and read through it. Nothing was out of the ordinary about the little notebook though. The writing was plain, and there wasn't even a plot to the story yet.

"Alexia, keep an eye on them for a minute." Alathia whispered as she found the DVD and jammed it into the player

Alexia was still reading pieces of the story as she peaked out the window to look at the three figures in the middle of the football field.

"There's nothing in this movie about how they could be real! They can't be real! Look Alexia, you can tell that they're computer animated! And the producers even talk about how they came up with the storyline! They're even showing some of the software- How's this happening? Look! People with motion sensor balls all over them! Spandex suits! Motion actors! Neah!"

Alexia shook her head. There's no way this could be happening. This all was physically impossible!

She read her paragraphs over and over, making sure that the little voice in her head wasn't just playing a cruel trick on her.

Alathia froze as her stomach squirmed about inside her thin body. Her breath shortened even more, and she crept over to the window.

"Who do you think they're after Alexia? Don't you find it kind of odd that they appear in our football field behind OUR home. And there's a little voice in OUR head, instructing, no… demanding, us to do things.

Alexia felt sick to her stomach from all the adrenaline pumping through her system, and Alathia was no different. The two marched in the bathroom and doused their warm faces with water. A little wet, the two returned to the room and back to the window. Alathia braved a peak out, and jumped back with a yelp.

"They're coming! They're walking towards the fence!" she gasped as she threw on a black tank top, black pants, and some tennis shoes.

Alexia did the same. They both pulled their long hair back, and peeked out the window… until Alexia noticed her story.

"Ohhhhh-shit!" she snapped, "The story's writing itself..."

She scrambled towards it as Alathia curled up away from it, too scared to touch.

They watched as red ink began to form words onto the pieces of notebook paper.

"THEY'RE GONNA COME IN FROM THE BACK DOOR!" Alexia gasped. "That… that's alright, we'll leave through the front… C'mon, we have to go!" she said, grabbing Alathia by the arm, which was still a little wet.

"Man it's a good thing my mom and brother aren't home… they'd be dying right now." Alathia said as she ripped open the door.

Alexia had a backpack on with a bunch of supplies. No sooner did they run across the driveway (too scared to start the engine of a car), then they heard a tiny explosion, and men shuffling into the house.

Alathia's mom was away on her very first business trip, and her brother was on third shift at the local factory that night. No one would even know if they were kidnapped.

They sprinted as fast as possible down the street away from their home. The water drying on their faces chilled them to the bone. Alathia and Alexia only stopped to catch their breath in a field a long way away from home. Noticing they were out in the open, easily out past the town curfew for Alathia, the girls dashed through the dewy grass and crawled behind an old dumpster in a deserted factory's parking lot.

They were safe… for now.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- major editing… This editing is hard work! Enjoy

Chapter Two: The Factory

"Okay! What the hell's going on? There's no way any of this can possibly happen!" Alathia snapped at the sky.

"I know. We aren't even sure about how that story started writing itself. And none of this makes sense! How are they real? And why are they after us?" Alexia exhaled almost monotonously.

"I don't care about that gay ass story! What about those silver haired dudes coming to life and… They're after us!"

Then Alexia remembered! The story was in the bag! As quickly as possible, Alexia flipped it to the gravel pavement, stirring up dust, and pried the notebook out from its depths. Alathia gasped, eyes wide with horror.

"You brought that thing?"

…now she cared about it…

Alexia nodded, shaking a little as she opened the cover. No sooner did the cover come back, did the writing start appearing again. They both froze, afraid of what it might say, but dared to read on.

Their eyes widened even more as Alathia and Alexia read the silvery red ink one last time.

"The men ransacked the quiet little home, before realizing the front door was unlocked, and the young women were no where to be found. Kadaj pouted as he blew the doorknob right off. Sniffing the night air, he followed two pairs of footsteps down through the wet grass. 'They ran this way. It won't be long now' the young man sneered as he made his way down the sidewalk."

Alathia and Alexia blinked and looked at each other in horror. How could this be happening?

They scrambled off their bums and searched for an open or unlocked door on the factory side. Soot already coated their sweat and water drenched faces Finally, around back, a door was left wide open to keep the place cool. Alathia and Alexia dashed inside and locked the dead bolts. They turned around to meet a small, dark forest of assembly line machinery.

This was a shirt factory. Long abandoned, only a few sheets of cloth were left behind.

"We have to hide…" Alathia whispered while panting.

"Maybe we should split up. That way if they catch one of us, they still have to find the other." She explained, almost calmly.

Alexia nodded, and hid her backpack in a small cabinet near the rear door.

"Stay out from in front of windows, where they can see you. And try to stay out of any and all light" Alexia warned.

"And don't go to the center of the factory, they'll be expecting that" Alathia said sprinting away from Alexia. "Good luck".

Alexia slid along a wall until she met up with a window around the back. She heard leaves and sticks snapping and crunching as the men neared the window. With some random burst of courage, she ignored her own advice and peeked out the side of a dusty, almost black, window.

"I've melted the two side doors, as you saw. I'll go inside and look for them, you two guard the front and back doors. They'll be trapped. No way to go, but with us. Sephiroth will be over-joyed to see us return so quickly," sneered Kadaj, the youngest brother.

Alexia leaned towards the window to get a better look at the men. Yazoo flicked his hair out of his face, only for it to fall down his back. She took notice to their beautiful eyes. They were glowing an eerie green as they scanned the surrounding trees and bramble. Alexia panicked when she noticed Kadaj walking towards the window, and slammed herself against the wall, sliding down to the floor idly. Alexia began to crawl away when she heard his gruff voice at the window, and froze with fear.

"Loz, guard the front, Yazoo, guard the back, after I enter. This shouldn't take long." He smiled sweetly to his older brothers.

Alexia crawled away quickly. This was going to be difficult getting out. She'd have to escape through a side window, where the men wouldn't be looking. But when, and how would she do it? Alexia found herself crawling into an office, and hiding under the desk as she heard the back door to the factory being ripped from its hinges and clang across the floor. They'd blown it clear off!

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Alathia managed to sprint all the way to the front of the building, and caught a glimpse of the three graceful men striding around the dumpster and straight towards the building. They stood at the door, near her window and examined it.

Alathia closed her eyes for a moment; maybe to make it all go away. When she opened them, and realized they wouldn't disappear, a small tear made its way down her slender cheek and cleared away a trail of soot. Alathia ducked for a moment as Kadaj slid past the window. She took a long look at him as they made their way to the side of the building.

Suddenly, the boy turned around and stared through the window, almost seeing her. Alathia noticed how handsome he really was. The young man was very slender, with light features. His silver hair blew softly to his sides as a gentle breeze caressed his smooth face. The pupils of his glowing cay eyes narrowed as he smirked and led his brothers around the side.

Alathia scrambled to her feet and ran towards the opposite side door. The frantic girl backed away only when she noticed it was smoldering around the edges.

They'd melted the door shut; she'd have to find another way out.

Alathia gasped when she heard the blast of the back door being blown away, and immediately got on all fours. Crawling out of the small hallway to the door, she noticed an office room off to the right.

Alathia dared not stand, but crawled to the cracked door; dirt and dust fluttered about threatening to make the girl sneeze. To her relief, she saw Alexia removing a window. Alexia turned around and smiled as she quietly placed the window below the desk.

They hugged and scrambled out the window running in the shadows, down the street.

A/N2- thank you all for reading and putting up with this crappiness. And thanks for the reviews. I always did like reading them :D


	3. Chapter 3

A/N- a big ol' smelly edit took place. Hope you like it. I really busted my fat ass on it. Hurrayz for getting kicked outta college :D. Enjoy.

Chapter 3 Flee!

Kadaj smashed up everything in the factory looking for the girls. He'd found the book bag right off the bat, and handed it to Yazoo, to be teleported to the center of the stadium. The office was the final place he looked, and found the window. Kadaj quickly dashed out the front door, to the side to see the footprints leading farther down the road.

They'd barely escaped!

He was furious, but said nothing when he noticed how upset his older brother was at himself. Loz's eyes flickered at the ground in front of him as he fiddled with his gloves. He hadn't thought to patrol the area. Yazoo ruffled his big brother's hair and told him

"Its alright. I didn't look either."

Loz finally looked up at Kadaj, who smiled at him.

"Don't worry, we'll get them tonight"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Alexia ran to her house and took the spare key to her car. Alathia had taken off to her boyfriend, Mark's.

Alexia crept into her own home, took the spare key, and stole her own car. She turned the key, and the battery lit the digital clock. It was about 2:45 in the morning… This chaos had only been happening for forty-five minutes…

Maybe her own significant other would be awake. Instinctively, she drove to his house.

Alexia parked the tired old car at the park at the end of the road, and walked down the darkened sidewalk to her boy's house. The trees loomed over her in the yellow street lamplights that lined the road. The wind blew softly, tousling her hair a bit as she pulled it back into a ponytail.

The girl slowed her pace just before she'd made it to his house and halted at the front doors. No, knocking would only give her away. She'd have to sneak around back and try hitting his window. The gravel at the end of his drive crackled below her feet as she slowly tip toed to the back. Once on pavement, Alexia's eyes darted every which way, making sure no one was out to hear or catch her. There it was. His window… The TV was on!

Alexia picked up a small pebble to throw at the window, only to drop it and stare in horror at the shadows coming up the driveway. There they were!

Horrified, she sprinted around the house, only to meet Yazoo coming at her!

"Hello there… What have we got here? A little run away eh?" he sneered, darting at her.

Stumbling backwards a little, Alexia yelped and tried to run. She ran through the back yard, wondering why she was going to bother, until she slid around a wired fence. Alexia had to get them away from Jason's.

Yazoo peaked around the corner she was hiding, catching her off guard.

She closed her eyes, and breathed softly, hoping he wouldn't see her creeping through the neighbor's back yard. He didn't; he was more interested in the woods behind the garage.

Loz was walking silently through the back yard, and Kadaj was patrolling the driveway (unable to see Alexia over the neighbor's fence), and the front yard.

"…The hell!" she thought to herself as she crawled around the house to the sidewalk. She waited to run, only after watching Kadaj slink back up the driveway.

"Well, no use going home. I have to get to my car." She thought as she prepared to sprint past the well-lit driveway.

Alexia delicately stepped along the sidewalk, and looked up the driveway as she glided past.

There, encased in light, merely looking like a black shadow stood Kadaj, the youngest of the brothers. His slender form was cocked to the side, waiting impatiently for his older brothers to return to him.

She took no chances of being caught, while starring at him, and began sprinting down the road, a tear slipping down her wind chilled cheek.

She just blew the last chance she had to ever see Jason again. Alexia knew that within the next day, she would be caught.

But, she was unsure on what those men were planning on doing with Alathia and her. Were they going to dispose of them, or use them?

Alexia wiped the sweat off her face as she sat in her car. She'd cut her lip and scrapped her knees pretty bad while she was rolling around out there. After wiping away the blood on her lip, Alexia started the engine and drove away from the park, towards Mark's.

Shamefully, she knocked on the door, after noticing the living room light was on. Alathia hugged her, and cried with her when she saw Alexia enter alone.

Mark looked a little distraught, but kept his distance.

"Can I call him?" she asked quietly, wiping blood off her elbows and collarbone.

Next time she'd be careful how she threw herself around when escaping.

Mark nodded, in a daze, and handed Alexia the phone. She dialed, and the familiar voice picked up after two rings. Jason sounded terrified.

"Hey what's up?" She asked nonchalantly, holding back the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Alexia are you okay? I watched the whole thing! They're still in my yard! What's going on!" he hissed angrily.

Hearing his voice broke her strong grip on her emotions, and Alexia sobbed for a couple minutes before gathering her wits once more. She was terrified of what was going to happen to her…

"I'm fine, I got out of your yard. I…don't really know what's going on, to tell you the truth. All I know is, I just…wanted to see you one more time. Please, if they come in, be careful. Don't let them touch you. I love you Jason. Hopefully, I'll see you soon…"

There was an awkward silence before she heard him sigh.

"I love you too. If you're still here by morning, I'll be on the front porch waiting for you. Bye…" he trailed off, and hung up the phone.

After getting off the phone, Alathia, Mark, and Alexia devised a plan. Alexia and Alathia would have Mark drive Alexia's car to a huge cornfield on the edge of town. He'd then drop Alexia's car back off at her house, so no one knew anything was wrong.

And since it was so easy to sneak into her house (her parents never locked the door because it was such a safe neighborhood), he'd simply put the key back on the table.

Mark drove silently, and merely stared at Alathia when they reached the field. Alexia wandered out to the field like a zombie as Alathia and Mark had their moment.

"Man, this is really screwed up…Make sure to keep your cell phone off. I won't call you anymore; you call me. I can't risk you getting caught," he growled.

She whispered in his ear and squeezed him softly. They stared at each other for a moment before she shut the door.

Alathia didn't look back. She knew that if she did, there was no way she was actually going to leave the car.

"Alexia, let's go around the field. That way if we really need a place to hide, we can go in there." Alathia mumbled.

Alexia smiled half-heartedly. That was always her best friend; making things way less complicated than they had to be.

"I didn't even get to see him! They chased me right through the back yard. And he watched the whole thing!" Alexia finally laughed later.

She was kind of embarrassed that he'd seen her frantically sprinting through his own yard; rolling about and bleeding everywhere.

Alathia laughed at the thought, but shivered when she put herself in Alexia's shoes.

They trudged on for about a half hour until they decided to stop

"I'm too tired to walk anymore." Alexia complained bitterly.

The two stopped near one of those huge, metal, telephone wire towers, and decided they'd stay there for the rest of the night.

:D


	4. Chapter 4

A/N- big ol' smelly edit took place. Hope you like it… my writing sux! Enjoy if at all possible :D

Chapter 4 Aw…captured!

"So, where are we going?" Alathia asked calmly.

"…I dunno…" Alexia shrugged glumly.

"I didn't think that far. I only thought that…if we were in a forest, or a field they couldn't find us. And I'm already nervous, just because they could have attacked ANY of our loved ones, which includes your family, my family, Jason…or Mark! And we're stuck here! We're in the middle of a damn field, with absolutely NO information at all."

They both glared at the ground angrily, as if it were the one making them so miserable.

"And on top of all that, a storm's coming" Alathia said, pointing in the direction they'd been heading.

"Let's just rest. We'll figure out what we're doing in a little while" Alexia responded wearily.

They fell asleep until daybreak; which rained on them lightly.

Weaving slowly through the tall corn stalks, the women tromped through the mud over to a little patch of trees on the side.

"Do you think I should call Mark?" Alathia asked while brushing the water off her arms.

Alexia smiled and said, "Yeah, I want to hear about Jason"

Alathia looked at the phone hesitantly.

What if Mark had been attacked?

Or, what if they could find them just by the call?

Finally, she dialed. No more than one ring went, than Mark frantically picked up.

Of course, he asked the obvious questions: Where are you, what's going on, Are you safe.

Then he told them what had happened.

"Ok, tell Alexia her car is at her parent's and the key is by the sink. So, the factory on your road is perfectly fine. The only sign of damage are the two side doors that are welded shut. Your house is fine. Your brother found a note when he got home that said you two had gone to the mall, and Jason was with you. He called, just to make sure you weren't trying anything sneaky. I drove up to Jason's a little early this morning, and he was wrapped in a blanket on his porch swing up front. He asked a lot of questions, but…I answered only the one's I knew…"

Alexia smiled when Alathia told her Jason was safe. The rain had stopped by then, and the sun peaked out of the clouds happily.

Curious questions ran through each of their minds. Would the silver haired men ever find them? Did they do anything on their background?

She was startled to see Alathia gripping the phone with a horrified look on her face as she came out of her trance…

"Mark? What's going on?" Alathia screamed anxiously, moving out into the field again, Alexia not far behind. The blond girl ran her fingers through her hair nervously and held it all in a fist at the nape of her neck.

She'd heard the familiar sound of a door being blasted down!

Alathia covered her mouth as she heard Mike drop the phone and attempt to hide.

"No…" she practically whispered as she heard the men cover his mouth, and drag him off.

Alathia couldn't help it; she had to listen on. She couldn't even acknowledge Alexia asking a million times a minute "What's going on!"

She squeaked as she heard the men order Mike to sit and be quiet.

"Sit down and shut up! Do what we say, and we won't hurt anyone. We saw you snooping around the factory, and around their home. Tell us what you know!" a firm voice demanded. It sounded like Kadaj's.

Alathia imagined how confused Mark must be, until she heard someone pick up his tiny phone.

"Hello little girl…Where might you be?" an older man's voice sounded over the phone.

Alathia screamed, letting out ultimate frustration, and started thrashing around.

"THEY'VE GOT MARK!" she yelled, exceptionally pissed off, and chucked the phone as hard as she could out into the abyss.

That meant they had to run again.

Alathia was tearing out stalks of corn in anger, while still screaming at the top of her lungs. Dirt, mud, grass, and bugs flew up with the stalks everytime she yanked it out.

Alexia devised yet another plan of escape while Alathia thrashed about.

The men would expect them to run further out into the field, instead of towards them. She eyed Alathia throwing her tantrum, thinking over and over if it really was safe to let her come so close to them.

She may strike out at them and blow their chance to escape.

Alexia sighed and stood, watching Alathia toss the sack that Mike had given them, out into the abyss.

"We have to go back." Alexia said, tying her shoe, afraid to look directly at Alathia.

Alathia turned around and stared blankly at her, blowing a piece of stray hair out of her eye. Her furious brain already processed the reasons why they'd run back instead of farther out…but was working on a way to assassinate the men.

When nothing safe came to mind, she shook her head and followed.

Was Alexia actually planning something?

Nope!

She was shit outta ideas, and pretty pissed off herself.

"Why should we keep running from them? We can't keep outsmarting them!" she thought angrily as she and Alathia watched the men ride through the field on motorbikes, chopping and blasting down stalks.

The young women ran as quickly and quietly as they could back towards town.

"What next," Alexia asked bitterly.

Alathia thought the question over for a minute.

"Go home, and let them have us" she said finally.

As long as the monsters were looking miserably in the field for them, maybe they'd go enjoy the day with their men…and, well, end the relationship. Who knew if they would ever see each other again anyway.

"I hope they smell like major cow manure!" Alathia hissed, kicking down another stalk.

Alathia and Alexia made it back to town within minutes, and within a half hour, Jason was watching them stagger up the stairs to his doorstep.

He drove them to Mark's, where the man sat on his own porch, visibly shaken.

He ran to Alathia and squeezed her as tight as he could.

He supported her weakened frame as they made their way into Jason's house.

"Jason, I want to be alone with you" Alexia whispered, not even looking him in the eye.

He obeyed, and they spent the day in his room, with the door closed.

"Mark, I want us to be alone." Alathia said without looking up at Mark.

He simply nodded, and they shut themselves up, quietly in his room.

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Alexia called Alathia later in the evening and met at the small grocery store about a mile from Alathia and Alexia's.

Neither smiled as they met. Each person had their own problems to think about. Night began creeping in as they made their journey back to their home; dreading what was going to happen later.

"What do you think is going to happen to us?" Alathia asked.

Alexia finally looked at her, color drained from her face, and muttered,

"I feel like a prisoner on death row…"

Alathia laughed coldly; Alexia failed to see the humor anywhere.

Alathia's mother still was not home, and her brother waved goodbye to them as he sped off on his motorcycle to work. There was no protection now.

For a few minutes, Alexia seriously considered turning around and hiding for the rest of her life.

Alathia considered digging around in the trees to find the biggest branch she could .

Then when they got to the house, she could beat the men with it.

They got home fairly quickly, and climbed into their beds, shoes and all.

"Well, knowing them, they'll drag us off with or without shoes…So, I'm keeping mine on…just in case." Alathia said as she sprawled out on her bottom bunk.

Every time the girls heard the rumble of a motorcycle the hairs prickled up all over their body, and they felt chills run up their spine. Just as the two were getting comfortable, motorcycle engines roared and halted in their driveway. Alathia felt the fear creep over her body as she awaited the familiar sound of the door being blown off. Alexia was out.

The blast came a moment later

The men romped up the steps and grabbed them quickly. Not a word was said, nor did a struggle take place. The young women were handled quite gently as the men carried them away, and repaired everything to normal.

When the girls did put a little bit of effort into maybe wiggling free, the young men would whisper, "Please don't", and hold them tightly to their almost bare chests…

"You smell like cow manure…" Alexia complained wrenching her face away from Yazoo's warm chest. He may be handsome, but he didn't smell too great.

Alathia looked up at her captors face. It was Kadaj, the youngest.

His bright green, cat-like eyes glistened in the streetlight as they quietly walked to the field. She smiled and thought to herself…at least she was a prisoner to someone who didn't look like such a child molester.

His soft skin tensed a little when she shifter her weight, and he looked down at her angrily.

"No sudden movements, can't have you two scurrying off and playing hide-n-seek again," he said bitterly.

She smiled, remembering how they'd tricked the men into searching the cornfield all day.

"Yeah, that wasn't very cool. Especially since you seemed to already know you'd be captured sooner or later." Loz huffed as he looked back at the two very relaxed women in his younger siblings' arms.

"It was uncalled for." Yazoo snapped, looking down irritably at Alexia.

She rolled her eyes…"Yeah, right, really uncalled for." she moaned sarcastically.

Kadaj and Yazoo gave them a look of disgust as they reached the center of the field, and dropped them right on their hindquarters.

They glided to the side of their older brother, arms crossed, scowling.

Loz bowed his head and looked at Kadaj.

Yazoo went behind the two of them, and shuffled around in a small, black bag. He smiled only when he pulled out what looked like an advanced version of a joystick.

Loz pulled lightly on Kadaj's coat with a questioning look on his face. Kadaj smiled up at his brother and replied, "Yes, we're going home."

Yazoo slid around the brothers, mumbling a "C'mon", and began moving towards the girls.

The other two followed, and formed a circle around Alathia and Alexia. No movement took place, just three empty stares.

Alathia looked at Kadaj just before Yazoo pressed the button on top of the stick.

Did he just smile at her?

The women attempted to scream as they were sucked into a brightly lit swirl of color, but nothing came out…

A small blast sounded out into the night, as the field was emptied of its five visitors. A small breeze passed through the grass as thunder rolled and a light mist fell to the ground.

A/N2- :brushes her shoulder off:D


	5. Chapter 5

Well… this'll be the second time I've edited this … sometimes I wonder how annoying life would be if everything was a computer…

Glitching, rebooting, stalling, rebuffering, CANNOT READ THE GOD DAMN FILES:sigh:

Enjoy or I'll gut youuuuu ..

Chapter 5 Flight to Bone village

Alexia kicked Loz, just because she could, and tossed a handful of dirt in Yazoo's eyes when they landed near three motorbikes.

Loz winced and grabbed his shin, while Yazoo let out a painful cry and grabbed his face.

Alathia stood up and kneed Kadaj in the stomach, causing him to hunch. She then him by his hair, and yanked him into his surprised brothers. The girls continued, throwing dirt and kicking them in the backs and stomachs, until they could safely flee the scene.

The two girls darted into the forest and climbed a tree…

Why they climbed a tree, neither they, nor the author of this story knows…

"Alathia, why did we do that?" Alexia asked after reflecting on what she'd just done.

Alathia shrugged, "I…felt like it?"

They really had no idea what made them lash out and flee!

Alexia ran her fingers through her long, red tinted hair thoughtfully.

"Ya know, we're in their world now. We have no food, nor water; we don't know where we are or how to get out of here. And to top it off, they were the only ones around that could protect us from monsters and get us outta here. And they're the ones wh o we have to run from." she whispered to Alathia, who was tying her shoe.

Alathia let out a grunt of acknowledgement before peering out of the tree for the men.

"They couldn't have gotten far, they've no where to go!" Kadaj huffed as the three strode past the women in the tree.

"If they're lost in the woods we might not find them for days!" Yazoo groaned irritably.

Loz shook his head and sniffled.

"Let's just find them before the monsters do."

The men disappeared into the glowing forest. Alexia quietly climbed out of the tree and waited for her bud. Alathia fell out of the tree…not so quietly, but it didn't matter; the men were long gone by then. After Alathia dusted herself off, the girls trotted over to the motorbikes and rummaged through them.

In Yazoo's bike bag they found wristbands and materia. When they picked a piece of materia up, a whisper sounded in their heads, telling them what it was.

They put on a wristband and found a couple of charm materia (keeps monsters from attacking…made it up myself). Loz's bag had Alexia's story in it, so…they opted not to touch it. In Kadaj's bag they found mostly artillery, probably for his brothers' guns. And at the bottom, they found a lot of candy bars.

"Ha!" Alathia sneered as she stole his sweets.

"…Oh my…" she trailed off as she finally looked at her surroundings.

Behind the motorbikes stood the most recognizable landmark they'd ever seen.

"We're in Agit!" Alexia practically whispered, walking slowly towards the lone building.

"This is where Sephiroth gutted Aeris," she said staring tensely at the small lake surrounding it.

"Yeah, its also where those men are probably hiding Sephiroth. And…I don't know about you, but I don't look forward to meeting HIM." Alathia spat as she grabbed Alexia and pulled the opposite direction.

Paling a bit, she followed Alathia away from the building and into the deserted city. They had it memorized just because of the video game.

"…You know what I just realized Alathia…We can't leave this city. Remember the Sleeping Forest? We need the Lunar Harp that Cloud had when he went searching for Aeris." Alexia sighed heavily.

"Well, maybe Cloud, or those psychos back there dropped it near the exit for the woods. We have to at least try…I didn't beat up those crazy bastards back there just to go back into their arms" Alathia huffed as they pushed past some bramble.

They quickly reached the edge of the forest, and began their search for the key item that they'd never seen… much less know what they're looking for.

"Shit! Here they come!" Alathia snapped, dragging Alexia behind a fairly large rock.

"They could be lost in these woods. And what's worse, Sephiroth watched the whole thing!" they heard Yazoo complaining bitterly to Loz.

He rushed over to the woods and pulled out the Lunar thing…

Kadaj grumbled obscenities under his breath, and Loz smiled at him.

"Oh, you gotta be joking!" Alexia snapped.

"We gotta follow them!"

Alathia rolled her eyes and rubbed her temples… she felt a large migraine coming on.

Why did everything have to be so difficult!

The men slunk through the forest calling the young women's names, occasionally coming into battle with a monster.

"Erg! When I find them, I'm going to kill them! Then, I'll revive them, and kill them again! AH!" Kadaj snapped as a Lupin dashed for him.

With a flick of the wrist, his sword sliced through the monster as if it were water. The men took a ridiculously long time to reach the entrance of Bone Village. As soon as they got there, Kadaj groaned angrily.

"There's no way they could even make it through to here without that damn Lunar Harp! So just let them starve! I don't care about them! I'm tired, and hungry…if they're smart, they'll start yelling for help and then, we'll find them. But for now, I'm going back to the bikes"

And with that the brothers rushed off towards Agit.

Alathia smiled evilly, and did a dance, holding up every single one of Kadaj's candy bars.

"Boy, is he gonna be pissed when he finds out" Alexia whispered, clearly amused.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N- I still think Yazoo's cute. Haha. I wanna cosplay man! And guess what! My boyfriend is all for it :D cause he loves me and thinks it'd be fun.

Enjoy

Chapter 6 Bone Village

Bone village was asleep as the young ladies emerged from the dark forest. Exhausted and hungry, they rested beside the large dinosaur skull, and munched away on Kadaj's loot.

Everything being so quiet, they distinctly heard Kadaj, deep in the forest, screaming angrily, as if the world had just collapsed around him. He found out about his sweets…

They tittered and entered the inn.

"Excuse me, can you tell us where we can find Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockheart, or any of Cloud's companions. We're VERY unfamiliar with the land, and we're in desperate need of their help." Alexia flirtatiously asked the attendant.

The man wrote out directions and gave them a map, blushing. He'd placed his digits on back. The young women kissed the man on the cheek and left.

"Well, all we need now are some weapons." Alathia smirked, eyeing two slumbering guards and their swords.

"Why would we need weapons?" Alexia asked.

"Well, in the game, when you fight monsters, they drop gil…so, we fight monsters, and get gil! Simple as that!" Alathia reasoned.

Alexia shrugged. She'd seen some gil spill out of the monsters that attacked the silver haired men.

They, oh-so-sneakily, stole the swords from the two useless guards, and left the village, after selling one wristband and charm materia, and buying phoenix downs, potions, remedies, and elixirs (even though you really can't buy elixirs in the game).

It was early morning as they left town to explore the unknown. Their first few battles were with small…yet evil bunnies. Then some lupins showed up…and out of nowhere, a huge, purple dragon that looked much like a T-Rex. (I kid you not… all of these are in the game… and the purple t-rex is actually in this area… you can only steal one thing from him… tifa is my thief :D)

"The hell did this come from!" Alathia remarked as she went to steal something from it…

"A Zeio nut? That's all it has! One measly nut! We aren't even breeding chocobos!" she screamed as she ran back carrying a single nut.

They escaped battle and went further on.

"Alright, we need to go back to town and wait for Cloud to deliver. That man said he'd be coming in the morning, so we should be safe." Alexia sighed, staring out at the blue water ahead of them.

As they turned back towards town Alathia ate the last of Kadaj's candy bars. She smiled as she walked, and happily munched away.

"Where did he get these bars, they're awesome!" she laughed eating the last bite.

They wandered back, and were in town within minutes. The women rented a room at the inn, and told the man to inform them when Cloud came.

Alexia didn't sleep well. She kept wishing that when she woke up, it would all go away. The poor girl kept thinking that when she awoke, she'd be in her own bed, looking up at her own ceiling. But it never happened.

Alexia awoke to different smells, and the ceiling was decorated in old bones and mud.

Alathia stayed up all night, swearing she had seen the three men ride their motorbikes out of the forest. Paranoid, she stayed up the rest of the morning and watched the outside world.

"I want to go home…" she trailed off as both she and Alexia heard the sound of a single motorbike coming into town.

It was Cloud! Oh happy day! Oh glorious happy day! Oh the sex god himself was going to save them!

They sprinted out to the entrance of the city to greet him, only to wish they hadn't.

Alexia went pale as Loz sped up to her. She was quickly scooped up and carried away on the bike, through the forest.

The directions and the innkeeper's phone number flew through the air as Alexia's body jolted back.

The papers flew out of her hands.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N- :pulls hair out: EDIT… enjoy

Chapter 7 Fight or flight

As the papers fluttered to the ground, Alathia stood where she was left, not quite knowing what to do with herself.

Alexia was gone, and there was no one to save her.

Another motorcycle sounded beside her.

"…You've got to be kidding me!" she practically whispered, drawing her sword.

Kadaj came speeding towards her on his bike, the sound of the motor deafening all other sounds around them. He went to grab her, only to receive a cut on his forearm from her sword. Enraged, he got off the bike and readied himself for battle.

"Why are you after us!" she snapped, angrily lunging at him.

He dodged gracefully and sneered.

She tumbled on the ground and added a nifty bit of hair accessories… such as leaves and twigs. Who needs hairspray to froof out your hair when you've got dird :D.

"I'll explain if you'd give us the chance to sit you down," he announced bitterly.

"What are you planning?" she screamed, again lunging at him.

Angered at the fact it had taken him this long to capture her, Kadaj dodged her attack and grabbed her by the froof on her head.

He pulled her close to him, with her arms behind her back, and hissed into her ear through angrily gritted teeth.

"I'll tell you when you cooperate. C'mon, we're going to visit someone"

She made a swing with the sword, and he simply bent it in half.

Enraged, she grabbed him, and yanked him about evenly by the hair.

"Ow! Let go!" he snapped with surprise.

"Then talk!" she yelled, pulling hard away from the bike.

He matched her and yanked hard right back, both wincing with pain.

"How are you real?" she said, digging her stubble of nails into his soft scalp.

"I told you, you'll know in due time! Why the hell do you have to make this so difficult?" Kadaj hissed slamming her on the ground and pinning her, face up.

She was livid, and spat in his face. He slapped her, but immediately regretted it. By freeing one of his own hands to hit her, he'd let go of one of hers.

And he was squatting, legs spread, over her slender stomach.

Alathia grabbed and yanked. No sound escaped from his lips, but he DID remove himself from her, and hunched up in pain. To buy more time, she lifted his head, and punched him in the nose.

Alathia knew she'd broken it as soon as she hit. She heard the crack, and removed her fist with drops of blood dripping off her knuckles.

"OW! F…" he rolled away, clenching both his broken nose, and groin.

"Why did I do that!" she thought sympathetically, as she limped back towards the village.

The girl wiped the blood off on her shirt and continued screaming for help. Out of sheer frustration she began sobbing.

"Somebody please help me! Please! Heeelp! They're here to get me! Oh god please help! Don't let them hurt me!"

She continued limping and looking back over her shoulder. Another motorbike was coming towards her. She cried out and broke into hysterics; screaming the same plea loudly. Sadly no one helped.

Alathia heard the motorbike just before she was grabbed and yanked into the darkness. But it wasn't Kadaj

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Alexia was silent and still as Loz quickly drove through the forest, towards the dead city. They reached the entrance trail to the lone building where Aeris was laid to rest, and he yanked her by her arm towards it.

"C'mon, wouldn't want to keep him waiting any longer"

"Let go!" she screamed, pounding with her fist on his rock hard arm.

Angered by her resistance, a hand snatched the gruff of her neck, and began pushing Alexia towards the lone building.

She hissed with pain, and leaned her head towards the sky, to lessen it.

Panicking, she turned and sprinted almost under his arm. Loz grabbed the frantic girl, and threw her like a rag doll over his back.

"Oh, we're getting closer! I can see the building!" she thought as she twisted herself to look over her back.

Alexia had to think of a plan of attack. She looked down. Everything on his body was clad in leather; which would make it impossible to claw his back. But his head, it was vulnerable!

Grabbing a fairly large rock off a nearby ledge, Alexia slammed it into the back of his head. He dropped her immediately, and gripped the new wound. As soon as her two feet hit the ground she took off. Tears were filling her eyes as she heard quick footsteps behind her.

Daring to look back, she saw a man.

"Oh this can't be happening!" she thought as she let the tears fall in utter fear.

That man was NOT Loz…

Every muscle was working as she sprinted down the dark trail. She could feel every pulse from her frightened heart.

"Almost in town!" Alexia thought as she screamed in horror.

"Help, somebody help! Please! Ahhhhh! No… no no no, Pleaaaase no!"

She'd looked behind her and saw the long flowing hair of the man.

Alexia's body was exhausted, but she dare not slow down. The steps were getting closer and closer!

Closer, until she heard them right behind her. A leather-clad arm wrapped around her stomach, and she again, screamed in horror. Alexia struggled in his arm. Her body and mind couldn't take it as he turned her around to meet his face.

She fainted after coming face to face with the scariest man she'd ever met.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N- … I hated the last chapter… but I fixed it as much as possible… edited here too. Hope you Enjoy .

Chapter 8 Sephiroth

"What happened!" Loz gasped as his youngest brother limped towards Yazoo and him.

He pointed wearily at the bound and gagged Alathia. Kadaj was covered in his own blood, and cradled his nose.

Yazoo sat Alathia down gently and ran up to his young brother.

"Ish it brooken?" Kadaj asked as his two brothers made him tilt his head back.

Loz nodded, and showed him the back of his own head. It too was caked with dried blood.

Yazoo's injuries were minor. He only received a long cut across the chest (after Alathia had found Alexia's dropped sword), and a few scratches to his eyes, cheeks, and lips.

Remember the old saying: If you think I look bad you should see the other guy!

Yazoo gently wiped what blood he could off of Kadaj's face, and popped a restore materia into his wristband, casting it on all three of them.

The men heard Alathia squeal and struggle. Her eyes glistened a fiery green with horror. Loz and Yazoo looked down the trail at the tall shadow coming their way.

Kadaj looked at Alathia and cocked his head to the side. Why was she so scared?

"You got her then?" Loz smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his now healed head.

Sephiroth smiled, and calmly handed the unconscious woman to Yazoo.

Yazoo cradled her limp body, and wiped away a fallen tear from her face. He calmly walked over to Alathia and set her unconscious friend down next to her.

Alathia blinked down at Alexia's body. Horror stricken, she pulled herself into a ball and stared at Sephiroth.

He was examining Kadaj's nose for further damage.

"I thought you said they'd be harmless!" Kadaj protested as his oldest brother finished his exam.

Alathia squeaked when Sephiroth glared at her.

"Sorry…I didn't know they'd be such a hassle. But you, Kadaj and Loz, should have been more careful." He mumbled, walking up to the wide eyes Alathia.

"We should return to the Capitol." Yazoo purred, while picking up Alexia and cradling her again.

Sephiroth and his brothers stared at Alathia.

"I'm not handling her! She's…She's a beast!" Kadaj protested, rubbing his hip with one hand and cradling his nose with another.

"…Erm… I've got this one," Yazoo smiled, squeezing Alexia's still limp body.

Loz just blinked as his brothers turned towards him. He smiled sheepishly and backed away.

Sephiroth rubbed his temples, as if he had a new headache, and sighed.

"Alright, I'll get her." He cooed while reaching for Alathia.

"MRPH! MMMM! HUUUUUUNNNNN MMMM!" she protested.

Sephiroth continued to pick her up by her underarms as she let out a number of muffled screams and cries (although she dared not struggle in his arms). She relaxed slightly when she realized how gentle he was as he cradled her bound body.

Alathia stared up at him for a moment to take in his handsome features. She squeezed her eyes shut when he looked down at her curiously, and looked at the other three. Her eyes fell on Yazoo who was walking beside Sephiroth at the sickly white face of Alexia. She was beginning to awake.

Alexia's eyes fluttered sleepily and she groaned.

"Where am I?" she asked groggily.

And then she realized…she was moving.

Panic stricken, she slowly lifted her eyes to meet the eager ones staring down at her.

"AH! WHAT THE F!" she screamed and squirmed out of his arms.

Alexia immediately began brushing her clothes off and looked up at what just brushed her arm. She screeched again when she realized it was Sephiroth's long hair… Her best friend was in his arms.

Alathia wanted to tell her to run, or at least look at her…but she was too afraid of upsetting her captors; and instead buried her face into his chest and moaned.

Alexia weakly sighed as Yazoo ran to her, and bound her arms and legs.

A/N2- got the mrph idea from SintheDarkPriestess :D

She's a very talented writer yesh ..


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Why are you so odd?

Yazoo proceeded to carry Alexia. They reached the Capitol without further incident, and climbed down to the hidden prayer room. Yazoo cut the rope off of both the girls, and quickly backed away.

"Are you going to listen?" Sephiroth questioned firmly.

Each girl nodded. What… did he want them to say no and get up and walk away?

"I'd like to thank you for being in our company, although, I'm positive you'd rather not" he said smugly.

It was the perfect truth. They'd much rather have been sleeping in the corn field with manure spread or gnawed on by those rabid bunnies than kidnapped by four of the most frightening men in the world…whatever world it might be…

"This is not a dream. As I've said before to someone else, I'm sure you were looking for: What I show you is reality." Sephiroth purred, pacing and side glancing at them.

"This place exists. You're still on earth. Only people that are born here can see this place. You probably want to know how there's a game and movie based perfectly on these few islands. There are run aways every year."

"They were born here, and left for the main lands, never to return. All they needed to bring our story to life was the technological advances that our world hasn't mastered yet. You two are the ONLY exceptions to Gaia's magical protection. You can see it; you can be part of it. No one knows how or why you two are the only ones throughout the whole existence of this planet that can do this, but I assure you…my brother's and I would never destroy someone that powerful. Especially because of the potential influence you have on the whole world."

"You two are the only ones that can be a part of both worlds. My brothers could only stay in the main lands for a few more hours. If they were late…they would have never seen Gaia again." He said sweetly, cradling Alathia's face in his strong fingers.

She was horrified!

Who does that?

Who the hell grabs someone's face?

Alathia uncontrollably slapped his hand away, and curled up into a ball. She felt like hissing something back, but decided it best to just glare… evilly… and angrily… if looks could kill, ya know?

Sephiroth smiled coldly, and rubbed the top of his hand.

"Great to see you two still have some fight left in you." He cooed, standing tall once again.

Alexia hadn't moved from her position. Her long hair fell down her shoulder and brushed her cheek. Nothing made sense. How did they know all these things about them that they didn't even know? And why were they kidnapped? If Alathia and she were so powerful, why hadn't anyone rescued them, or noticed their disappearance?

She glanced up when Sephiroth neared her, and bent down.

"You two will be staying with us. We will be training you tomorrow. Kadaj, show Alathia around. Take Yazoo with you…for protection. Loz and I will show Alexia around" he smiled, staring right at her.

"I think I'm going to throw up." She thought as Sephiroth stood.

After her fainting spell, she'd felt sick. It was nerves. Every time Sephiroth so much as breathed in her direction she felt her skin chill.

Sephiroth did seem to notice, and let Loz stand beside her.

"Are you alright." He asked, gently supporting her by the shoulders.

"Hehe…just a bit queasy" she said awkwardly.

Alexia didn't like him touching her. She looked into his eyes warningly, and then down at his arm around her shoulder.

Immediately, he let go, and scratched his forearm awkwardly.

"Lead the way." Alexia whispered, staring at the ceiling.

Sephiroth smiled at the mood swing, and lead the way to a boat.

The three climbed in, and followed Yazoo, Kadaj, and Alathia across the black, underground lake.

Was it weird that she felt thoroughly awkward sitting next to Sephiroth?

He, like his brothers, was quite handsome. But something about his presence made everything…creepy.

Alexia winced when she noticed him side glance her. She didn't think about anything for a while as they drifted in the darkness. By nervous habit, she started playing with a piece of her hair, on Sephiroth's side.

Her hair was extremely long and soft, so she thought nothing of the lock of hair as she twisted and played with it. But she could feel both Sephiroth and Loz staring at her as soon as she had picked up the hair.

Suppressing laughter, Sephiroth looked at his brother who was grinning from ear to ear.

"…So, are you hungry?" he asked very calmly.

Loz nodded and continued looking at Alexia

"How about you?"

Alexia scowled at him angrily. Did she not mention how sick she felt just a moment ago!

Then she glanced down at the hair she'd just braided and gasped.

"OH MY GOSH! I'M SO SORRY!" she said, throwing the hair out of her hands.

IT WAS SEPHIROTH'S!

He picked up his newly braided hair and examined it.

"Cute." He smiled at her, making Loz burst out in a fit of laugher.

Alexia turned beet red. She splashed Loz with some of the water, and let her embarrassment turn to anger.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING? YA JUST SAT THERE AND STARED AT ME! AS IF I DIDN'T FEEL AWKWARD ENOUGH!" she complained, bravely shoving Sephiroth away from her.

"Well, I thought you'd notice!"

"Oh, ya know what? Don't even give me that crap! You're as odd as a Midgar Zolom!" she huffed, splashing Sephiroth and curling into a ball again.

They laughed until Alexia complained of feeling like she was going to upchuck. Even if that moment had been embarrassing, it lightened the mood for all of them.

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Kadaj peered behind him to see what the boat behind was laughing about. He watched Alexia splash Loz and shove Sephiroth. She was extremely red, and looked very upset. He turned around and looked at Yazoo questioningly.

"She braided his hair by accident." His older brother inquired, staring blankly ahead of him.

"Maybe if he got it cut once in a while…Heh. Look who I'm talking to. Loz and I are the only ones that cut our hair." Kadaj scoffed.

Yazoo smiled evilly and splashed him. Sharp objects weren't really his thing. That's why he had the Velvet Nightmare. Yazoo usually cut himself on Souba. So much for being the most graceful of the bunch.

Alathia smirked at Yazoo for splashing him and Kadaj noticed.

"Oh sure! Take his side!" he complained.

"He didn't pull my hair when he captured me!" she said, shoving him.

"Oh yeah? Well at least I don't grab the crotch of strangers! Crotch grabber!" he teased, poking her in the forehead.

"She what?" Yazoo questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.

Kadaj explained what happened and proceeded to call her a "Crotch grabbing machine"

"Ya know, that's not all I'll grab…" she scowled and poked his temple aggressively.

"YAZOOOOOOO!" Kadaj whined

His older brother laughed, and crossed his legs. Kadaj copied and smiled at her.

"No more crotch grabbing for you."

She didn't hear his insult, as she'd already spaced out and was looking away from them.

Alathia was happy as long as they weren't planning on killing her.

Absentmindedly, she dug around in her sweater pocket. There was one more candy bar left! She thought she'd ate them all!

Excitedly, Alathia pulled it out and began eating it…right in front of Kadaj.

"Hey!" Kadaj yelled bitterly, and snatched it away.

"That was mine!" he sneered and hit her in the forehead…such a bad temper.

Alathia smiled sheepishly.

AND SLAPPED IT INTO THE WATER!

"If I can't have it…no one can." She smiled evilly.

Kadaj's jaw dropped in astonishment, and a little chuckle escaped from his throat.

Yazoo tried to keep his cool, but every time he thought of what just happened he doubled over laughing.

Kadaj splashed her and proceeded calling her "beast" while she kept asking, "Why are you so odd?"


	10. Chapter 10

A/N- I feel like there's poison pumping through my veins… and I'm slowly withering away… I'm sick but still editing :sighs: hope you like this. That last chapter was so bad I couldn't do anything to fix it… o well. Enjoy. Hopefully I can fix this one.

Chapter 10: Home

The two boats reached land (or rather, rock) a few moments later, and the women were dragged off separately with their designated group.

Alathia followed behind her captors absentmindedly. She was busy inspecting the trees along the trail they were following. These trees weren't glowing with lifestream like the others. They were dark, just like the trees would be at home.

"Are we there yet?" Alathia asked, annoyed.

They'd been walking for five minutes and they'd seen nothing spectacular.

She noted that monsters were nowhere nearby. Alathia also realized that she had no idea where they were headed.

"Where are we going?"

"Home." Yazoo purred and smiled at her.

"Well, seems like HE enjoys it there." She thought, smirking at how strange he was.

Were all the men around here this weird?

Ten more minutes passed. She saw nothing, mostly because of how dark it was. She whimpered, slightly fearing what could be lurking in the dark, and wedged herself between the two men.

" 'Sup beast?" Kadaj joked and patted her back.

A moment later, she finally saw the outline of a house.

"Woah…" she whispered as the two men rushed to the door.

"Why do you live all the way out here?" she asked.

Kadaj looked at the ground shamefully.

"Well, every time we've lived somewhere else its been destroyed." Yazoo explained, watching his little brother fooled with his gloves.

"People don't like the way we look…"Kadaj trailed off.

He seemed a little upset by it.

"We look like Sephiroth. The video game about this place was extremely accurate. And that got people questioning EVERYTHING…and then the movie came out. It was…rather off, but DID scare people. They knew what we were capable of and…kinda drove us outta town a lot. Hehe." Kadaj finished explaining.

"We are monsters…much like you are a beast." Yazoo teased before entering the home.

Alathia gasped when she entered. There was NOTHING in it! No furniture!

She stared at the two, who were beaming at her.

"So what do you think?" Kadaj asked proudly.

"Aw, I can't hurt their feelings! Besides, he might attack me again…" Alathia thought just before opening her mouth.

"Its beautiful…" she smiled and looked across the empty entrance.

"Ya really think so? We did it ourselves" Yazoo boasted, and dragged her across the floor.

Kadaj stood in the center, where their was a platform, and held his hands towards the ceiling.

Alathia heard an electrical charge come from his arms as he began to glow a light blue. She ducked down, as did Yazoo when she heard something similar to the hum of a generator. A moment later, blue orbs made their way out of Kadaj's fingertips and flew about the house.

They made their way around the home; lighting small coned torches everywhere.

"…WOOOOAH!" she exclaimed sincerely this time.

Kadaj twirled, laughing and watched Alathia as she gawked at the beautifully lit home.

"It took us a few weeks to make all this. We carved and made all the designs ourselves! It turned out better than we thought" he exclaimed, clearly proud of himself.

The home was actually very beautiful, even if it had no furniture. It was large, and gothic.

Yazoo and Kadaj showed her around excitedly.

"Oh it was my idea to use gargoyles! And all the spiral designs are Kadaj's handy work. See! Doesn't it feel cool?" Yazoo rushed Alathia around, making her touch everything.

They were too busy to notice Sephiroth, Loz and Alexia walk in and sit down on the floor.

"See, I bet you're sorry now! You attacked…an artist." Kadaj posed superiorly.

Alathia rolled her eyes and walked into the downstairs bedroom.

The movie was totally wrong about these men. Well, Even if they were potential psychos, they were, extremely approachable.

"Again, why are you so odd?" she laughed as they entered the room behind her.

Alathia's heart broke as she saw the condition of the room.

"This is our room." Kadaj spoke softly.

"Do two of you sleep to a bed?" Lindsay asked weakly.

"Yeah, its not so bad. We like it that way. It feels…safe. I share with Yazoo, Loz shares with Sephiroth." Kadaj said, sitting on the end of what resembled a bed.

Alathia felt horrible. These grown men lived in fear of the rest of the world, and hid themselves away from it. They barely had anything, unless it was "hand made" by themselves. They lived in this beautiful house, and yet…had nothing. The beds looked old and there was a lone dresser for all of them to share.

She cocked her head to the side, in thought as she watched Kadaj lie down on the bed happily.

Alathia was sure Sephiroth was scared of no one. He'd have no problem destroying everyone. Perhaps he just stayed in hiding so he could protect his brothers?

A/N2- :shakes head shamefully:… no I couldn't fix it.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N- Edit yayz! All this editing is inspiration for fanart :D! Enjoy!

Chapter 11 New home, same rooms

"We haven't the money to buy furniture…Heh, like we could actually go into town and buy anything" Yazoo laughed as he rested next to his brother.

"What do you mean by that?" Alathia asked, still in her sympathetic daze.

Kadaj stared at the ceiling hatefully as he answered her question.

"That movie scared everyone. We did have Jenova's head, and burned it after resurrecting Sephiroth. But that wasn't enough. Cloud chased after us. He was EXTREMELY moved by that movie, and said if he ever found us again…he'd kill us…"

"We had a home in Midgar then…he destroyed it. Then we moved to Kalm town. We were fine there. It was safe and we'd done nothing wrong. After bringing back Sephiroth, we hid him in the City of the Ancients, so no one knew he was alive…Well, one day we went to visit him…and when we came back, Cloud and his crew were standing in front of our home, which was on fire." Kadaj said, clearly trying to hide his sadness.

"We lost everything in that fire…" he trailed off as Yazoo butted in.

"That includes Sephiroth's savings for us…all burnt to ashes," Yazoo smirked.

"And then, he attacked us. Kept screaming about how he knew we'd brought Sephiroth back, and demanding to know where we were hiding him."

Alathia's eyes widened, and she sat on the floor beside the bed.

"Story time!" she squeaked.

Kadaj smiled, and told her the rest.

"We kept saying 'we don't want to fight. We've done nothing wrong.' but he wouldn't listen. So, we had to run…He slashed Yazoo in the back. Vincent shot me in the shoulder blade, and Tifa busted up Loz's face pretty good…Heh…we fled to the City, and hid there for a few days. Had to tell Sephiroth what happened…Turns out, Cloud can get through the forest too…we hid for days in the shadows until he spotted one of us. That time we almost didn't make it. We fled to the Capitol building, and went to the prayer room. Only the Ancients can get in and out…ya know, that fish hologram keeps us safe. All four of us are safe here. Cloud can't come here…so, we built our home in this place. Occasionally we leave to get food. And low and behold, he manages to find us…so, hehe, get used to not eating a few days in a row!"

Alathia did NOT enjoy the last sentence. Her mouth fell open in astonishment.

"Not eating for a few days? What the f-"

"And to top it off, Jenova's still alive. She's in the lifestream, creating Geostigma (yes, its real). We're the only ones that can destroy her. But every time we offer help, Cloud attacks us!" Yazoo interrupted monotonously.

Alathia blinked in silence. She didn't know what to say…what could she say?

"I'm sorry my hero's attacking you and making you miserable." Or "I'm sorry…I'm having a difficult time grasping the concept of Cloud being the monster and not you four."

She knew Cloud would be the type to fight and ask questions later…but not attempt murder.

Kadaj stared down curiously at the girl on the floor. This was the first time he'd gotten a good look at her. Alathia's green eyes glowed as she stared at the ground pitifully. Kadaj watched as her honey blond hair fluttered into her face.

He smiled to himself, and rolled over to look at Yazoo.

He was already asleep…even though he'd just spoken a moment earlier.

"You must be tired. I'll show you to your room." He said softly, while stifling a yawn.

Alathia looked up and smiled half-heartedly. She was exhausted, and still so many thoughts were rushing through her mind. Kadaj nudged her down the hall and up the beautiful stairs.

"We've been planning on having you for a long time, so…we built the upstairs to accommodate you. Alathia, your room is on the left…all you things from the Mainland are there. Yazoo invented a BUNCH of crap to transport your things here after we returned. He's so smart!" Kadaj boasted as they entered the room.

"Well, goodnight!" he beamed and shut the door behind him.

She sighed and curled herself up under the sheets of her bed.

"Why is everything still so confusing?" she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Sephiroth laughed as he watched his two youngest brothers dragging the helpless girl around. Loz was busy talking to Alexia about how she'd smashed him in the head with a rock, and how they'd made their incredible escapes. Sephiroth felt a large amount of pity for the women. They had no idea how hard it was going to be for them. Alexia didn't even know THEIR story. She knew nothing about the men…how was he going to tell her the sorrowful story when she'd just opened up and became comfortable with her new surroundings. They all three sat and waited for the other party to leave.

Alexia happily bounded around the home without Loz and Sephiroth. She waved them over to her a couple times to explain a few things, but she dared not ask anything major.

"Where do I sleep?" she asked happily.

"Your bedroom is upstairs on the right. Go on up. We'll see you in the morning." Sephiroth purred.

Alexia edged away from his creepy allure and bounded up the stairs. She smiled at Kadaj as he passed her on his way down.

"…And they ask why we're so odd…" Kadaj thought to himself.

"They have worse mood swings than the Midgar Zolom."

She quickly burst into her room as soon as she reached the door.

"Oh sweet! All my things! This is awesome!" Alexia thought as she squeezed her faithful old teddy bear.

Then she noticed it. Right in the middle of the bed was the book bag, and on top…was the story.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N- So in case you're all wondering why I tell you that I've edited. Its… basically for my own checkpoint. I have an awful memory, and can't remember what I've edited, and what I haven't edited online. If I lose my place… I'll know by the simple 'I've edited this chapter' thing… rather than the old authors notes of 'i'm on crack', 'omg yazoo!', and 'I have a stalker and I make empty promises' :D

Enjoy sweet children.

Chapter 12 The Great Escape

Alexia stood where she was, a conflict silently playing in her mind. Had they read the story? Did they know about it before the girls were brought?

Alexia kicked all of the junk off the bed and wrapped herself in her comforter.

She noticed two wonderful things as she sat on her bed, wrapped in the blanket, looking around.

Alexia had her own bathroom! And there was a door connecting to Alathia's room. She squeaked with excitement, completely forgetting her questions and worries. Slowly, she crept into Alathia's room, still wrapped in the comforter, and shook her awake.

"Mrph…hi…" Alathia croaked with that newly awaken morning voice (even if it weren't)

"So…what do you think?" she asked as she sat up.

"I'm really confused still. Why do they live all the way out here?" Alexia asked thoughtfully

There was an awkward silence as a smirk made its way onto Alathia's face.

"Wow…Have I got lots to tell you…"

After Alathia finished telling Alexia every word Yazoo and Kadaj had uttered that day, she smiled; content with the expression on her best friend's face.

Alexia's mouth was wide open, and she was staring at Alathia with a shocked look on her face.

"They share beds!"

"Alexia!"

"Right…"

:Another awkward silence:

"Wow…My head hurts…Damn! I was so happy until I came in here! Maybe I'll just go back to my own room…" Alexia huffed.

"…So, what do we do now?" Alathia asked, ignoring the insult.

"I don't know! We're their prisoners! We can't exactly escape without them eventually finding us; just like every other time we've attempted to flee! And what 'training' are they talking about? That's been bothering me since I got here!" Alexia asked.

"Well…maybe we can spread our wings now that we're in a different world. I mean, maybe we have powers that we couldn't bring out in the mainland…I mean home…damnit! They got me speaking their language…gah; anyway…remember how things felt at home? I mean, we couldn't run as fast as we can here. We are definitely not acrobats, and yet…here we can do flips, twirls, and do moves that we only DREAMED about at home. Alexia, I could barely do a cartwheel at home! How am I so nimble all the sudden. Any you were a couch potato…Obviously this place brings out the best in us." Alathia reasoned, laughing as she recalled pulling a muscle in her butt the last time she did a cartwheel.

"…I miss TV…" Alexia pouted.

Whether she acted it or not, she did absorb what Alathia said.

"Haha, at home, we'd be too afraid to pick up a sword. And there's no way we could wield it. But here…it seemed very natural…hmmm." Alexia thought aloud, picking at a toenail.

"Okay, I'm going back to bed…I wanna read the story before we start this…training tomorrow."

"You have that thing!" Alathia snapped, nearly falling off the bed.

She followed behind Alexia; both women wrapped in comforters, and began reading the story. It went along exactly how things really happened. The last sentence informed them that the men were all in their room asleep. All except Kadaj, who was lying there thinking about food.

"Oh, I'ma throw a bitch fit if they don't have food for us tomorrow." Alathia grumbled.

Alexia stared curiously at the notebook.

"Wonder what'll happen if I do…" Alexia trailed off as she picked up a pen and started scribbling on a piece of the paper.

The ink was absorbed into the book and disappeared on contact.

"Hm" Alathia said thoughtfully.

"Wanna take a look around outside?" Alexia finally exclaimed.

"…Sure…"

"'Kay meet me at the front door…outside."

And with that, they separated to their own quarters.

Alathia was the first to creep out of her door. She glided beside the railing silently as she made her way to the steps. Suddenly, there was a creaking noise, and Kadaj stepped out of his bedroom doorway. Alathia immediately hit all fours and stared at him as he made his way to the kitchen. She dared not move until he was back in his room.

He returned, a moment later, eating something that resembled a purple apple, and shut the door to his room.

Alathia stood once again, and made her way down the steps. To her astonishment, the wood never creaked beneath her feet, and she made it to the door without further incident. Alathia calmly sat on the front porch, and awaited Alexia to make her entrance.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Alexia came out ten minutes later, twirling like a ballerina, whispering/singing one of her favorite songs.

"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up highhhhh. There's a land that I've heard of once in a lulllllabyyyy…"

She flashed Alathia a brilliant smile, and pulled out a rolled up piece of sketch paper from her sweater pocket.

"Found it in the living room…Yazoo signed it…so I'm assuming he's the owner." She blushed, handing it to Alathia, and sitting beside her.

Alathia unrolled the paper to reveal the prettiest pencil drawing she'd ever seen. It was the women! Yazoo had drawn them, arm around each other's shoulders, beaming happily in front of them. It was beautifully made, and they could tell he spent a great deal of time on it, shading and getting every detail perfect (including their chest…which made them feel slightly uncomfortable)

"Aw…that's so sweet." Alathia cooed, still looking at the picture

The women stood, and Alexia gently rolled the paper, and put it back in her pocket.

"Ready?" Alathia asked after brushing the dirt off her bum.

Alexia nodded and looked out into the darkened forest.

Time for another adventure.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N- Hey! Now ya'll get to actually read the correct chapter! Funzies! Lol enjoy the edit

Chapter 13 Busted

"Where are we going?" Alathia inquired before they'd gotten off the porch.

"I wanna go check out the lake again. What do you wanna do?" Alexia responded excitedly.

Alathia placed a finger below her lower lip in thought.

"How 'bout we look behind the house when we come back." She said thoughtfully.

Alexia nodded, and the girls made their way down the trail. The forest was just as dark as before, and there was a slight breeze as they wandered along the trail.

Alexia looked curiously at the trees.

"I wonder why they don't glow like the rest of the plants." She said, making her way towards one.

Alexia placed a hand on the bark of the tree, and realized…it was stone!

"Alathia! These trees are petrified! Look!" she shouted, knocking on the trunk.

"We're in a petrified forest! Wow! I didn't know things like that existed! That explains a lot about the house…" Alathia laughed, touching one of the trees to see for herself.

It didn't take them long to realize that the house they now resided in, was made from these ancient, stone trees.

"I wondered why the wood didn't really feel like wood! Maybe we shouldn't be so surprised…I mean, they couldn't leave this place and get the raw materials. It would be too hard to bring them by boat, since it's the only way they could get out here. Plus…Cloud woulda been right on their tails." Alathia reasoned, examining the tree carefully.

They soon got bored…staring at the stone trees, and again, made their way to the lake.

The crystal water glittered as they reached the shore.

"Ya know, for having us under lock and key…we got out pretty easily. Wonder if they even know we're gone…we could probably leave right now…and find Cloud, and they'd have no idea we were even gone until morning." Alexia giggled, playing in the water with her hands.

It tinkled about making the light from its glow dance along the cavern walls.

It was the first time she'd noticed that the lake went through an enormous cave, and opened up to reveal the Petrified Forest.

The women stared off into the darkness, occasionally sighing, or playing with a piece of hair. After a while, Alathia spoke up.

" I wonder what's behind the house? Maybe they have something cool back there! I mean, where else would they train us?"

Alexia shrugged, but got up excitedly.

"Let's check it out." She whispered and turned around to head back to the house, only to stop dead in her tracks.

The horrible icy feeling crept up her spine as she stared at them. She found her feet wouldn't move and her mouth failed to make any sound because of how frightened she'd become.

Alathia was in a similar state, only her mouth wasn't wide open like her pal's.

"Are you leaving us?" Yazoo asked calmly, a hint of malice in his voice.

Kadaj stood at his side, scowling at the two angrily.

"No, we were just checking everything out." Alathia said calmly as well.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Kadaj snapped.

"Because we don't need your help dragging us around anymore. We can handle ourselves!" Alexia retorted.

"Don't talk to him like that," Yazoo growled, stepping forward aggressively.

"Don't tell her what to do!" Alathia shouted, moving forward towards Yazoo.

"Stop ordering us around! You're lucky to be alive right now! Who knows if there are any monsters around here! Or worse, what if Cloud found a way to get here? You'd be screwed." Kadaj spat angrily.

"On the contrary, little man, we'd be fine! You'd be screwed. You're the ones he's after, not us." Alexia laughed bitterly, stepping close to Kadaj and jabbing him in the chest with her finger.

The four stared each other down for a long moment before someone spoke up.

"If they really wanted to leave us, they wouldn't have dottled around…they would have been long gone." A gruff voice sounded behind the stand off.

Loz calmly made his way up to the group and smiled sheepishly.

Kadaj huffed, and walked up to his older brother.

Yazoo relaxed, and cocked his head to the side, examining Alathia.

His expression seemed to ask "are you still mad at me?" as his lip seemed to slightly pout.

She relaxed and walked away from him towards Alexia.

Yazoo calmly turned around and glided to his brothers.

"Well, how about we show you the back yard tomorrow. We'll be training there in the morning" Loz persuaded.

"No! Now!" Alathia commanded.

Kadaj tackled her and the two went into battle mode, rolling in the dirt, growling, biting, kicking, scratching, and pulling each other's hair.

Yazoo watched for a moment, and then looked at Alexia.

"Don't even…I have blackmail my little sketch artist." Alexia purred, still watching the catfight on the ground.

Yazoo's jaw dropped and he stared wide-eyed at her.

"Give it!" he finally growled.

"What's she talking about?" Loz questioned innocently

"Nothing! Now, give it back!" he snapped at the two of them, panicking.

Yazoo started rushing towards her, and she whipped out the portrait.

"This is what I'm talking about." Alexia said, walking towards Loz, who had a look of pure confusion on his face.

"Alright! I won't do anything! Put it away!" Yazoo gasped.

He'd lost the battle…but not the war.

Kadaj and Alathia were now standing, fists full of each other's hair, growling obscenities at each other.

"Why do you pull hair, that's a girl's way of fighting?" Alathia snapped, yanking hard on his head.

"Because it's painful, and easy to do when I'm unarmed." Kadaj said calmly.

Alathia had had enough.

Quickly, she let go of his hair and swung her body around him.

Surprised, he let go of her hair. Again, it was a wrong move on his part.

As soon as he released his grip, Kadaj received a hard kick to the side of the head.

Said silver head was caught off guard, and hadn't defended himself in time.

The blow sent all thoughts scattering as he fell hard on the ground, covering his face.

Yazoo darted towards his wounded brother, and Loz grabbed Alathia to stop her from attacking anymore.

"What did you do that for!" Yazoo asked her as he examined Kadaj's face.

"He…PULLED MY HAIR!"

Kadaj was fine, a little surprised, but fine.

"Okay, we're going back now. You'll see everything tomorrow. We aren't training you first thing in the morning! Please…no more fighting." Loz pleaded lazily.

"And sneaking out!" Kadaj added.

"And stealing…" Yazoo practically whispered.

"As long as you don't attack me, there'll be no mire fighting." Alathia snapped.

"And you left it in the middle of the floor…I just took it with me so I could show Alathia…" Alexis reasoned angrily.

Everyone stared at his or her opponents tensely, until Loz started walking back to the house by himself.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N- :sigh: Now for the funnies . Edit. enjoy

Chapter 14 Skibby dance

The tension wasn't gone, but the girls followed quietly behind the men. The funny thing was, neither of them looked angry. They were smiling at each other. Were they blushing too?

The girls glided behind the tense men, sometimes whispering, and giggling other times.

The two men didn't seem angry either. They…looked a bit more embarrassed than upset.

They all reached the doorstep quickly, and Loz turned to all of them, looking a bit miffed.

"Great, Sephiroth's awake…Good job, now we're gonna get it!" he practically hissed at his younger brothers.

"It isn't our fault!" Yazoo protested.

"They're the one's that snuck out!" Kadaj growled.

"Yeah, but they weren't going anywhere!" Loz pointed out.

"Well, we didn't know that!" Kadaj hissed.

The girls just smiled as the men argued on the porch, obviously proud of their work.

The men stopped arguing when they saw Sephiroth's huge shadow looming over them.

Loz said nothing more; he just glared up at Sephiroth, glared back at his two wide-eyed brothers, and walked into the house.

Sephiroth didn't even acknowledge Loz; he was staring blankly at Kadaj and Yazoo.

Kadaj jumped as Sephiroth spoke one word to them.

"Inside."

Yazoo bowed his head, and rushed in without even looking up. Kadaj walked slowly in, glaring back at the girls as he stepped inside.

There stood the great terror; the scariest man in the universe, angrily glaring at the women. But they weren't scared…oooohhhh no…Not scared. Just horribly disgusted.

The scariest man alive stood in front of his "prisoners"…in a thin, gray bathrobe…

"Well…I've seen about enough of you for today." Alathia scoffed.

Alexia laughed, and the women walked around him, up to their rooms.

Sephiroth knew, from that point forward he had NO control over them. There was no fear factor left.

He sighed heavily, and strode into the house to his awaiting brothers.

"Sephiroth, we didn't mean to…" Yazoo tried apologizing for them all, but was interrupted.

"Don't worry about it…they're out of control." Seph chuckled.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Yazoo asked calmly lying down in his bed.

"Well, heh, were you able to control them so far?" Sephiroth scoffed.

Kadaj sighed and crawled under the sheets beside his brother.

"My face hurts…" he complained.

Loz chuckled, and rolled over.

"Someone has a crush on soooomeone," he teased.

Kadaj mumbled obscenities and nodded off to sleep quickly.

The men were out within minutes. The women were no different.

(To the women)

"That was awkward." Alathia scoffed as she and Alexia sat on her bed, wrapped in comforters.

"He's handsome…but I NEVER want to see his white legs ever again…ewwwww!" Alexia moaned, shivering in her blanket.

"Right, so, if we're here around Christmas, we're going to get them underwear. Cause by the look of their outfits and what just happened, I'd say they're skivvyless." Alathia mumbled with a look of disgust on her face.

"Well, I'm going to bed…had enough adventure for one night. See ya in the mornin'" Alexia said, stifling a yawn.

She waddled back to her own room and fell asleep as soon as she hit the bed.

(Alexia's dream)

"Jason…I miss you." Alexia whispered as he held her close to him.

It felt real…just like home. She was home! She was back with Jason!

He kissed her forehead and squeezed Alexia tightly to his body.

"I miss you too," he whispered softly.

"Am I home?" she finally asked, looking up at Jason.

"No."

"This isn't fair"

"I know…"

"Quit taunting me then! I can't have you! If I can't have you, then I don't want to see you! I'll find a way to return." She whispered.

Just like that, Jason disappeared, and she was left alone in the dark.

"Home…I'll come back someday." She whispered, holding back tears as she drifted back towards consciousness.

(Alathia's dream)

Alathia walked down her empty school hallway in the dark.

"Hello? Anyone here?" she called out into the nothingness.

Alathia walked a little farther before becoming angry.

"Why do I always have the stupid ass dreams!?" she yelled at no one.

"Because you're Alathia. Alathia always gets ripped off." A friendly voice laughed behind her.

She recognized the voice immediately, and turned to greet her favorite boy.

"Mark!" She screamed, and ran right to him.

Alathia squealed happily as she buried her face into his chest and squeezed him tightly. She could feel his warmth as he wrapped his arms around her tiny body.

"Are you real?" she squeaked hesitantly.

"No." he sighed.

"This isn't what I want. If I can't have you, then I can't be dreaming about you. Torture is not what I want. I'm sorry," she whispered, letting go of the figment of her imagination.

He faded away, and she was left alone in the dark hallway.

"I can't live a dream." She whispered as she too drifted back into consciousness.

Both women awoke early in the morning. But neither got out of bed for a very long time. They thought about their dreams for hours before meeting in Alathia's room.

"Ready to go down for breakfast?" Alexia asked as she shuffled into the room, wearing sweat pants and a tank top.

"Yup…assuming there is any." Alathia scoffed in response.

The two sauntered down the steps and into the near empty living room.

The men were definitely there, sitting on the only couch in the room, staring out the windows.

Alathia gasped angrily, and Alexia moaned in disgust.

All of them were in the robes! And their members were artfully covered, but ohhhh, their whole pale selves (legs, hips, and a bit of their chests) were hanging out.

None of them bothered adjusting when the women entered, and Loz even leaned back, stretching out his limbs, almost bearing all.

"Ew! You guys are so gross! Have you no decency to cover your manly figures!" Alexia hissed, stamping in front of them.

Alathia followed, arms crossed.

There was an awkward silence before Kadaj answered with a lame, "Nope…" and stretched out, revealing his while hip and thigh!

The two women groaned and stamped upstairs.

"Ya know what…hehehe…I've got a plan…they'll straighten up after this," Alathia said slyly, and drug Alexia to her room to expose her brilliant plan.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Are you sure this'll work…I feel like a nerd! Can't I change into something a bit more sexy!" Alexia complained.

"Alexia…you can't get any sexier than a black Super Man thong and bra. They'll notice you!" Alathia reasoned.

"My butt cheeks aren't what I was quite going for them to see." Alexia huffed, walking away from her crazed best friend, and putting on real skivvies.

"You're no fun…" Alathia teased just before they busted out of her room

In nothing

But their undies…

Alathia wore black lacy skibs, and Alexia wore super man skibs.

"So what's for breakfast?" Alathia asked as she pranced RIGHT in front of ALL of the men, posing artfully.

Their jaws dropped…

"Yeah, I'm starving!" Alexia exclaimed, standing right behind the couch.

She smiled when their eyes hit her.

Their plan was working beautifully!

She sauntered around and stood next to Alathia, posing just like her best friend.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Loz exclaimed, still gawking at the women in the skivvies.

"Ohhh…just copying you! You all seemed soooo comfortable with yourselves, we figured…why cant we!" Alathia answered happily, while scratching her ass.

Alexia looked Alathia in the face and smiled evilly.

The two then posed EXACTLY how Yazoo had drawn them.

"Draw this Yazoo!" Alexia exclaimed, and Yazoo squeaked in embarrassment!

"Stop!" he yelled!

"Oh, c'mon! It was such a pretty picture! Cantcha just…do another one with us in our underwear?"

"I said stop!" Yazoo screamed angrily!

"Fine…" Alathia pouted, and Yazoo sat back down uncomfortably.

The men looked at each other and the women multiple times.

"So…are you going to put clothes on, and start trying to be decent?" Alexia asked curiously, scratching her boob.

"…If we do, will you stay in your skivvies?" Kadaj asked slyly.

"You want us both to pull your hair out?" Alathia asked warningly.

"Point taken," Sephiroth answered for him, and the men strode off to their room…leaving the girls still standing there in all their glory.

They stood there…awkwardly for a moment before busting up laughing.

The girls covered themselves, and dashed back up to their rooms as quickly as possible.

What a day this would be.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N- Edited with the tunes of enya flowing through my head.

Chapter 15 Mako eyed training.

They returned, dressed in jeans and faithful old tank tops. The men were fully dressed in their leather.

"So…breakfast…" Alathia demanded.

"Go get a piece of fruit in the kitchen…" Sephiroth answered calmly, flicking his hair behind him.

The women obeyed, surprisingly, and came back to bug the men.

"WHAT NOW!" Alexia screamed happily, breaking the silence.

Kadaj jumped, spilling hot tea on his crotch, in Yazoo's hair, and in Seph's face.

"OW! DAMNIT!" he screamed, practically tearing off his leather pants.

Instead he opted to hold the crotch out until it cooled off.

Seph growled at him and wiped off the sticky tea from his face. Yazoo was gone, dunking his head in a sink to get the tea out of his hair. Loz laughed until Kadaj flicked the remnants in the cup on him.

Alathia bit her lip and nudged Alexia, trying as hard as she could not to laugh.

"Nice one…" she whispered when Kadaj went to change again.

"He's been so jumpy lately." Loz remarked to Sephiroth.

"I know…" Seph trailed off, obviously pondering the reasoning.

"Maybe it's 'cause he thought he saw Mako eyes in the forest last week," Yazoo said, coming back from whatever sink he'd been to.

"What?" Alexia questioned nervously.

"Kadaj and I were out looking around in the forest about a week ago. We were trying to find ANY soil that looked like it could grow a garden. We got separated somehow, and I found him screaming and climbing one of the stone trees!" Yazoo exclaimed.

"He kept sayin, 'I saw Mako eyes! Let's leave! Cloud's here!', but there was nothing there. And Cloud no longer has a Mako glow…but he swears it was Cloud. It waaaaas kinda funny seeing him up that tree like a cat. Not so funny dragging him out of it and all the way home."

"What are we all talking about?" Kadaj questioned innocently.

He had a dry pair of pants on, and glared evilly at Alexia when he walked back in.

She smiled sheepishly, and answered, "You."

He glared at the ground, and moved only his eyes to Yazoo.

"Mako eyes?" Kadaj asked warningly.

Yazoo smiled half-heartedly.

"It was freakin' awesome! Did he tell you how it chased me up a tree?!" Kadaj blurted out happily.

There was an awkward silence before the question registered in their minds.

"Yes." Alathia answered him.

"Haha! Yazoo had to drag me outta that tree! It was funny!"

The girls were a little taken aback. Where was the violent outburst? Where was his fit? Combat mode? Was that a mood swing?

"Yeah, Yazoo and I were out in the woods, and I wandered off to go see what these glowing things were…Then it stood up. Scared the shit outta me, cause it was taller than me…And then I heard it take a sword out of a sheath, and…hehe, I took off runnin' man! Didn't wanna stick around!" Kadaj laughed.

Everyone could tell he wanted to explain his side of the story, so they let him continue without interruptions.

"It musta been pretty fast, cause I could hear it running right behind me. And I was scared shitless when I heard it swing a sword at me. So…" he trailed off, a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"There was a tree right in front of me. I climbed it, and screamed for Yazoo until I couldn't scream anymore. And that's it!" he smiled happily.

"Yazoo didn't see it, and I never saw it again…so they think I'm crazy."

"You are!" Alathia busted out.

Kadaj smiled evilly at her and replied, "I don't run around in my underwear."

"Oh…right, anyway…" Alathia tried desperately to change the subject.

"What made you think that up?" he asked curiously.

Alathia shrugged. She had no idea.

"What made me think running out was a good idea? What made me think fighting you was a good idea. I dunno! These things just come to me randomly." She replied lazily.

"…hm…I'll accept that." He answered just as lazily.

"Alright, anyway." Sephiroth finally interjected.

"You girls are going to be training for the first time today. We aren't going to throw you into it right away, but you will start soon. How about we give you your combat gear, and we'll show you around?" Sephiroth more stated than asked.

"Be warned. Kadaj and Yazoo volunteered to be your first instructors for training. They volunteered before they knew you. So…I'd be wary of their tricks. They'll be seeking revenge more than likely." Sephiroth purred, smiling menacingly at his young brothers.

"Damnit." Alexia whispered, not noticing Yazoo walk calmly behind her.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her by the shoulder, close to him, so as to whisper in her ear.

"And I'm training YOU." He hummed into her ear, making her melt on the spot.

Such a sexy, vengeful voice.

Her comeback: "You gonna bring your sketch book?"

He froze, too angry to move. His lips curled menacingly, and Yazoo shoved her forward.

"Are you picking a fight with me?" she asked curiously, gaining her balance before smashing into Sephiroth.

She rushed back up to him, and got close to his face.

He didn't move. She didn't scare him in a threatening sort of way; she scared him because she was a girl (which he hadn't had the pleasure of being around many) who were unafraid of him. He was slightly taken aback, and tucked his chin in solemnly so that she wouldn't run into it.

There was an awkward stare down before he smiled and placed an arm around her shoulder. She smiled back happily, although confused.

"This is going to be so much fun! They're feisty already! Imagine how they'll be when they're fully trained! We'll be unstoppable; Cloud won't even know what hit his ass!" Yazoo exclaimed, tossing a thoroughly confused Alexia in the air and catching her around the waist.

Alexia, surprised at the toss of her little body, wrapped completely around him as soon as she landed in his arms. She clawed her hands into his back, and wrapped her legs around his hips, slightly surprising him.

"…or not…" he smirked, looking at the awkward girl wrapped around him.

"…My crack hangin out?" she asked Alathia, who was somewhere behind her.

"Nope" Alathia replied, giving her a thumbs up.

"Thanks." Alexia smirked, unwrapping herself from Yazoo's tiny waist.

"Let's…get them changed." Sephiroth sighed impatiently.

He was surrounded by morons.

Loz motioned for the women to follow him. What was that on his neck!?

Alexia gave a silent gasp, and grabbed Alathia by the arm.

"Look at that! Right there on his neck. Is that a hickey?" she whispered into Alathia's ear.

Alathia examined the brown spot on the back of his neck, and made a silent laughing gesture.

"Yeah!" she whispered, equally as amused.

The women bit their lips when Loz turned to face them.

"Go in there, your outfits are right through the door." He demanded and strode past them, not expecting to hear another noise.

Loz froze when he heard Alathia make a slurping/sucking noise, and Alexia burst into laughter.

Seeing the pure anger in his face, the women quit smiling, dashed into the room, and slammed the door shut.

Loz wasted no time trying to beat it down.

"Shit, what do we do!" Alexia snapped, still laughing and trying to hold the door shut at the same time.

"Go out in front of the door! Take off your shirt, and pretend you were changing!" Alathia whispered.

They dashed forward, flipping off their shirts, with no regard for their decency. The door smashed open and they shrieked (fake) surprised to see Loz standing there.

He turned pale as they covered themselves and screamed simultaneously,

"GET OUT PERV!"

The door slammed shut, and again, the girls were left to bask in their near naked glory.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N- Linz, my best found the perfect theme song for this story. One of the lines is 'another life… another happy ending, cuts like a knife. Another place, another time… another hand to touch another sun to shine.'

Sucks having to start all over again… especially when you thought everything was going well lol.

Edited… enjoy.

Chapter 16 Voluptuous

"Ahhhh…what fun, what fun." Alathia smirked, looking around the room for her new equipment.

"Haha! Did you see his face! OHHHHH, it was _PRICELESS_!" Alexia laughed hysterically, flipping back on her shirt.

"So where's our clothes?" she asked, searching the room.

Two doors lie in front of them. Instinctively, the women walked up and opened them.

"Woahhhhh…" both remarked simultaneously.

Not only did they get really cool battle clothing, they got artillery and weaponry to match! The young women changed quickly into their new attire and examined themselves closely.

Alathia spun around in front of the full length mirror, glimpsing at her figure. The outfit was unique to say the least. The top was an emerald green, satin tank-top. Trimmed in black lace, the shirt also had a V neck that tied up with silk strings at the chest. The shirt went past the hips and was longer on the left side. The emerald color cradled her hip on the right side, and gracefully made its way down the left, V-ing off mid-thigh. It fit her figure perfectly, and managed to make her form look a bit dangerous.

The pants were different as well. Although leather, they fit like a glove. The legs were let open by a zipper at the bottom to create bell bottoms, and the outfit was completed with combat boots and a long flowing, black leather trench coat. Alathia went back to the closet to see what else there was.

Ohhhh yeah! There was MORE!

"OH WOW! Leather skirt and heeled combat boots…yeah right! Like I'd wanna fight in that. It's pretty though…OH WOAH!" she exclaimed, dragging two midlength swords from the closet!

"DAAAAMN!"

The eager beaver strapped the sheathes to her hips, and twirled around gracefully with a sword in each hand.

"I'm so scary! Hehe." She giggled to herself, and awaited her friend to pose.

"Alathia…do your…knockers seem to be overly revealed?" Alexia asked calmly from behind the door.

Alathia examined herself thoughtfully

"Nope, they're just supported. This actually feels a lot comfier than what I was wearing before."

"Ohhhh, so that's why they look like that…hmmm, alright here I come." Alexia scoffed and revealed herself from behind the door.

Alathia squealed with excitement as her best friend slunk out from behind the door.

Alexia had put on the top, and the trench coat. The top was the same, except that it was a blood red color. The pants were the same, except that they unbuckled on the sides.

But her weapons were totally different.

"You have gun blades!" Alathia gasped, watching Alexis pose warningly, pointing both guns out in front of her.

"Yeah, they're just like Yazoo's and Loz's." Alexia smirked.

"Does yours have extra writing on the side?" she asked curiously

"Yeah, its…Red Dream."

They shrugged it off and looked at Alexia's spare outfits. They were the same as Alathia's.

After a while of posing, and laughing at themselves (they'd realized that the men were probably going to gawk at them.), the girls exited the room and trekked back to the living room. Sure enough, the men did gawk…but only for a moment.

Sephiroth ended the awkwardness by mimicking Alathia from the night before.

"Well, I think I've seen about enough of you for today." He scoffed, looking the women up and down.

"Hey, it's better than what you were wearing." Alathia mused, smiling back at the tall man.

"Wow…you look…nice." Kadaj said surprisingly.

"Hey, face up here! You've seen your fair share of those for one day!" Alathia spat, wrapping the trench coat around her.

Kadaj smiled back sadistically.

"Yazoo, great idea! They fit perfectly" he finally called to his brother.

"Huh!" Yazoo shouted back.

He'd been in the kitchen getting fruit. Yazoo came running in, only to drop his fruit and stare.

"Woah! They fit nicely…heh" he trailed off, not even looking at Alathia.

Alexia awkwardly covered her figure and pouted at Sephiroth.

"Call them off!"

Actually Alathia and Alexia didn't mind them staring at them. Made their self esteem perk up a bit.

Sephiroth grinned at the awkward little runt below him, huddled under her trench coat. He sighed calmly and stood to walk to the door.

"Let's get going. We can't put training off any longer." He laughed, leading them all out the back door.

"I kinda feel like a rare piece of sirloin meat…." Alathia mused slyly.

"Kinda don't hate it though, heh" Alexia smiled back at her friend

Both girls zipped and buttoned up their trench coats and followed behind the four silver haired men.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N- edited :D :dances like a ninny:

Chapter 17 The stump and the tree grind

Alathia nudged Alexia and laughed at their new awkwardness.

Sephiroth and Loz lead the pack, Yazoo and Kadaj were next, and following slowly was Alathia and Alexia. The girls looked at the ground uncomfortably when they noticed Yazoo and Kadaj looking them over. By the fifth time, Alexia had had enough.

"My turn to come up with something…" she whispered evilly to Alathia.

"Do you think they have a bit of a crush?" Alathia asked, smirking at Kadaj as he peeked back at her.

Alexia nodded.

"Here's the plan…" she trailed off into her explanation.

Both girls twittered evilly when she was finished, and setup for the plan. They waited until they were positive that Sephiroth and Loz wouldn't notice their disappearance. When the men looked back a last time, the women beckoned them to come to them.

Yazoo and Kadaj looked at each other, but obeyed silently. Alathia grabbed Kadaj by the collar of his jacket, surprising him, and pinned him against a tree.

"Kadaj…there's something I have to tell you," she whispered seductively, unzipping the zipper to his pants.

He blushed madly, but smirked at her sudden aggressive advances.

She leaned in for the passionate kiss that she really did want, and ground her hips against his.

"I…" she trailed off and made it seem like she was going in for the kill.

"QUIT LOOKIN AT MY KNOCKERS YOU PERV!" she shouted, and elbowed him in the chest.

This caught Kadaj off guard, and he hunched over with a grunt.

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Alexia beckoned Yazoo to follow her into the forest a little ways, where they found a stump. She stood on it and started swaying her hips around dangerously.

"Dance with me…" she giggled, looking him deep in the eyes.

His mouth was wide open, and he had the look of terror on his face.

Nonetheless, he followed her command and got on the stump with her. Yazoo placed his hands on her hips and followed her moves, still looking deep into her eyes.

She smiled slyly and began nibbling at his ear.

"Guess what?"

"…. Mmmm…hm?" he moaned eagerly.

Within a split second the dazed man found himself slammed to the ground and stomach being stomped on.

"Pervertttttt." Alexia laughed heartily.

The two embarrassed men and glorious women joined the group again before Sephiroth even noticed they were missing.

"Ahhhh, what fun, what fun…" Alathia laughed, as she finally took a look at their surroundings.

The men had led them through their "backyard". It wasn't really a backyard; it was more like…four domed stadiums in the middle of a stone forest.

Each domed building had its own architecture and size.

"Mine is first. Follow." Sephiroth demanded.

No one dare disobey.

The group shuffled into the first dome and shut the great metal door.

Sephiroth walked to the far side of the football-sized dome and allowed the rest of them to gawk at its amazingness. The whole dome was crafted from the same petrified wood as the house.

But the architecture…

The building looked like an oversized cathedral inside. There were archways holding up the stone timber. Each arch had tiny human figures carved into it.

"Woah…he musta spent months on this!" Alathia gaped, as fire came from Sephiroth's fingertips.

He lit the cathedral in the same manner as the men lit the house.

Each pillar holding up the archways was lined with torches that burned red fire.

"This is the last dome you'll be visiting. Heh, you'll only make it here if you beat my brothers." Sephiroth chuckled.

"All of them!" Alexia gasped.

"Yes, all of them. Each one of us will be training you, until you surpass even our own powers. I'm the last you'll visit because…you can't beat me. Add in an evil chuckle. You are going to train with the two stealthiest of us first. Memorize their moves and tricks. They'll be pulling out all the stunts in the book. The trick is to know your opponent. If you don't know what the enemy will do next, there's a great chance you may lose your life. These training sessions aren't just to teach you how to fight. They're to teach you to control your energy and emotions as well…"

Sephiroth didn't notice until he was done speaking that the young girls had opted to skip out on his speech and scurry about the dome.

"Oh whoa, look at the carvings! This is awesome! Mannn… it's too bad that this is the last place we visit." Alathia complained, while touching everything she could get her hands on.

Wooooosh.

"Ah!" Alexia shrieked, instinctively spin kicking at the figure that had swooped at her.

"Ow!" she heard Yazoo yelp as he landed on the ground in front of her, holding his face.

"Sorry! You scared me!" she apologized, going to help the stunned man up.

Consumed by rage, he quickly stuck his leg out and spun in position, tripping the helpless girl. Both began wrestling exactly as Alathia and Kadaj had, biting, scratching, and kicking each other as hard as they could.

Alathia just watched, and Kadaj joined her shortly.

They would have attempted to pull them off each other, but they were afraid to even go near the little spat.

"I can't tell who's who! There's so much hair!" Alathia laughed.

"I know," Kadaj smirked.

They watched as the two stood up and began kicking at each other.

"That was fuckin' dumb of you." Alexia spat, flipping backwards three times to avoid Yazoo's blows.

"You kicked me in the fuckin' face!" he yelled back, now charging at her like a line backer.

She'd run out of options. Nowhere to run (the poor girl was up against a wall), she simply covered her face with her forearms.

Yazoo slammed into her, lifting the small frame, and pinned Alexia by her underarms against the wall.

She kicked him away, and landed firmly on her bum.

They sat there, eyeing each other for a moment, both sitting on the floor facing each other.

"Yazoo…training wasn't to be started here." A low voice permeated the thick air.

Yazoo went pale watching Sephiroth stride towards the two. Alexia got scared as well; she'd never seen Sephiroth angry…this was it…hmmm.

If looks could kill Yazoo would have been dead. His body seemed to go limp as Seph made his way to the man sprawled on the floor. A small squeak escaped from Yazoo's throat as Sephiroth hovered menacingly over his small body.

He attempted to crawl away, but stopped when Sephiroth started bending down to grab him.

Yazoo winced, and tilted his head away.

"NO! Its my fault!" Alexia gasped before Sephiroth touched Yazoo.

"I kicked him in the head…he was just defending himself." She said lazily.

Alexia picked herself up, and watched closely as Sephiroth helped Yazoo up and patted his back.

Kadaj bowed his head slightly as Seph passed him, gathering the group together once again.

The two fighters were silent, but walked side by side.

Alathia opted to walk with Kadaj, and Loz happily bounded ahead…leading the group to his dome (which was almost the same as Sephiroth's).

Kadaj and Alathia stuck together the rest of the tour. That babbled on abut nothing, which surprised them.

"Will you get me a chocobo!" Alathia screamed just before they reached Kadaj's dome.

"Haha! Yeah sure…Then we can breed them with that Zeio nut you stole." He laughed in response.

They tittered and looked at each other happily. Just seeing the boy smile and show his teeth made her melt. He was like a sex god. His silver hair caressed his neck, as he tilted his head back into a sigh.

"Wonder if they're talking yet." He smiled at her slyly, and tilted his head backwards to look at the two shadows behind them.

No, they weren't talking…but they looked very content. Yazoo and Alexia smiled brightly at Kadaj and Alathia as they walked arm in arm.

Kadaj and Alathia smiled back, and gave each other the look of "What was that!"

Sephiroth turned around to address the group.

"Well, we split here. Kadaj, Yazoo, bring them back in one piece." He stated firmly and strode away towards his own dome.

Yazoo and Alexia glided off towards his dome, leaving Alathia and Kadaj alone on the forest.

"So…you gonna beat me up now." Alathia asked meekly.

"No…haha, we don't fight til the end of training. Fighting with you tells me what you've learned and what we need to work on." Kadaj sighed, stretching out lazily.

"Ohhh, he's taunting me! He's doing it on purpose!" she thought, gaping as he bent his figure backwards to stretch his back.

He side glanced her, and smiled playfully.

"Wonder if she knows?" he thought just before walking up to her, coming within inches of her face.

"If this doesn't make it obvious, I don't know what will…" he thought, and looked deep into her eyes.

"Are you ready?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as if to lean in for a kiss.

Alathia just stared at him…what's he up to? What the bloody hell's he planning!?

Kadaj smiled slyly, and leaned in for the kiss. Alathia closed her eyes and held her breath.

Woo! She couldn't believe he was going to kiss her! Boy was she surprised by his next stunt.

She felt the hard fist slam into her stomach, just before her nervous system told her she was in a fairly large amount of pain.

He'd socked her in the stomach!

"First lesson you'll learn with me. Neither of us are pieces of meat. You will learn not to allow others to exploit you, even if you want to be…hehe, that was one of those sneaky moves you were supposed to watch for." Kadaj smiled, helping her up carefully.

"Sorry…you confused me." She winced, trying not to let him know she actually WANTED to snog with him.

He smiled and helped her into the dome, where the training was to begin.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N-Edited, enjoy.

Chizaper 18: Fighting feelings

Yazoo and Alexia walked silently into his enormous dome.

"What now?" she asked anxiously.

He smiled at her and pushed the girl in front of him.

"First, I teach you to aim, and use your gunblades properly." He said, rummaging in his pocket for something.

After a moment, he pulled out a rubber band, and began walking up to her.

"Alright, first lesson. You never want to use just one gun if you've got two. I use one because I've perfected my skills to the point where I only need to shoot at something once and I hit it." He gloated about his skills.

Alexia smiled at his willingness to be silly. Here she thought this would be all work.

"Now," he said, interrupting her train of thought.

"I've found that it's way easier to learn something when you're having fun. So, I'ma make our training sessions a bit amusing. Hehe, enjoy yourself here, cause when you go to Kadaj's dome you'll miss me." He warned.

"Why?" she questioned worriedly, as she realized her best friend was with him right that moment.

"He uses fear and surprise to teach. You learn just as well when you're scared as when your having fun. Loz and me have fun…. Kadaj and Sephiroth would rather scare you til you shit yourself." He answered happily.

"Ooooooook…" Alexia said dismissively.

The man fondled the rubber band for another moment, and then asked Alexia to pull her guns out. To her confusion, he had her hold the guns out in front of her so he could set the strong elastic band around both barrels of the gun. The band was so strong that it snapped the barrels together, making them clang as they hit.

"Today, we'll work on aiming in front of you. We'll work on firing at two different objects when your arm strength improves." He smirked, watching Alexia struggle to pull the guns apart.

"Alright…down to business…In order to handle a gunblade, you have to be naturally graceful…SHIT!" he yelped as the barrels snapped together and misfired.

"Whoop! Sorry!" Alexia smiled, oblivious that she almost shot the young man.

"Pay attention!" He snapped, making her jump a bit.

Yazoo sighed, returning to his usual composed self.

Alexia pouted, feeling ignorant, and bowed her head.

"Don't worry about it…here…let's work on aim."

Alexia was guided by the young man deeper into the dome. His hair gently blew back with the wind rushing past his face.

"I want…" she thought happily staring at the warrior striding ahead of her…dragging her along slightly.

They reached a target practice area that consisted of a wall…covered in burning torches that she guessed she was supposed to shoot out.

"Take a stab at it on your own…shoot at that one…" he grinned, pointing to one of the torches.

She sighed, but attempted anyway. Out of the six times she fired…. none hit.

Frustrated, Alexia pursed her lips and scowled, willing it to blow to pieces. She heard Yazoo chuckle to himself and begin to glide towards her.

"Here…I'll help you…now…" the longhaired trailed off, gracefully stepping behind her.

Yazoo spread his legs and gently placed his body on her back. Shivers made their way down her spine, and she blushed. Yazoo didn't notice as he wrapped his arms around her, and guided her hands with his own.

"Oh…Sorry…I didn't ask first. Do you feel comfortable like this?" He asked politely, placing his chin on her shoulder.

She nodded, trying hard not to squirm in his embrace. He smiled flirtatiously (when she wasn't looking) and lifted his arms up, pressing on the trigger and blowing up the torch.

Yazoo stepped back, letting his hands brush against her hips and stomach, and it took every bit of restraint that Alexia had not to moan with disappointment.

"Now you try…just…pretend I'm there." He hummed expectantly.

She never missed her target the rest of the time. Yazoo had her go the whole length of the wall (which took quite a hefty amount of time).

The last torch went out and she heard him, cock the trigger to his own gun. Fear swept over her body as the man laughed evilly.

"Now, we fight. Use all available resources and try using your senses."

Alexia gasped and took off running as fast as she could away from him. All the torches went out, and they were left in complete darkness. A gunshot sounded behind a pillar and Alexia ducked.

WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!?

Alexia heard leather squeak somewhere behind her, and whipped around. She fired the gunblades, and the spark briefly lit up the whole dome.

"Yah!" she heard him yelp.

There wasn't even a split second to bask in her glory. She felt the bullet enter her thigh before the sound of the gun even reached her ears. Her cry was similar to Yazoo's.

Alexia wasted no time in fleeing the scene as fast as she could hobble away. Her hearing became heightened, and every scrape, crunch, or squeak boomed in her ears.

At last, she stopped shooting at the nothingness and stood silently…listening for the attacker.

She heard the scrape of a foot to her left, and abruptly turned to meet her foe. No one was there.

Thoroughly confused, she turned back around and gasped. There he stood, barrel to her head, and cocked the trigger.

She winced when the touch of the barrel removed itself from her forehead, and Yazoo shot at the ceiling.

The spark lit the dome, casting a view of the opponents. Yazoo's bangs covered an eye, leaving the other to stare at her wildly. He had a smirk on his face that said he was planning something more. Alexia's eye was covered with her long, flowing hair. She had her head cocked to the side, and sat there with a serene look upon her face.

Her gunblades still lie on the ground, from where she panicked and dropped them. The whole thing seemed to go in slow motion…but everything was a blur to the girl.

The shot echoed in the dark for a moment before it happened.

She heard him step closer, and caught a glimpse of him holding up a gloved hand to cradle her face. She felt his nose brush against hers as Alexia felt his warm breath come close.

WHAT'S HE DOIN'!?

She opened her mouth to protest, but was cut short by his lips against hers.

"WAH! WHA? Hm…" her brain registered this as some sort of thought…but was moving too fast to try to make sense of it.

Alexia felt her arms and legs go numb with fear, realizing this stranger was kissing her.

They pulled apart…. both looking at the ground awkwardly…

"Why'd he do that?" she thought disappointedly.

"I didn't even know he felt that way…"

" Cough um yes…well, erm…let's go back to the house." Yazoo mumbled, picking at the restore material in his wristband.

Alexia realized a moment later…SHE WAS STILL IN PAIN!

"YOU SHOT ME!" she screamed, holding the wound.

Yazoo threw his hands in the air in disbelief.

"YOU SHOT…. OH NEVERMIND! Cure!" he shouted, healing their wounds.

They stood there awkwardly staring at each other before Yazoo hesitantly stepped forward, and took her delicate hand.

They walked home silently,

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Kadaj chased Alathia into the dome, and locked the door behind him.

Immediately the young boy whipped out a rubber band.

Before she had a chance to protest, Alathia saw Kadaj snatch her blades off her hips and sit cross-legged, binding them together with the band.

Alathia stared at him curiously.

The man was almost childlike sitting there…tongue out, looking concentrated on his work. She smiled lovingly as she thought the scene over. Kadaj was still a child, whether he acted it or not.

The band confused him apparently, because he was struggling with it.

Alathia faded out of her deep thought and began singing to herself.

"Always lived my life alone…

Been searching for a place called home.

I know that I've been called aside. Ignore the dreams to many lies.

Somewhere deep inside…somewhere deep inside me I found

The child I used to be…and I know that it's not too late

Never…too late." (Nessaja by Scooter)

Kadaj kept his head down, focused on his work, but smirked at the lyrics of the song…so she knew he was still a boy…hmmm.

"Are you implying something" he smiled curiously at her.

Alathia cocked her head down and to the side.

"…No." she answered slyly, blushing a bit.

"Oh…" he said with disappointment riddling his voice, and handed her the two swords.

He cleared his throat and went through the whole speech that Yazoo went through with Alexia (except for blades instead of gunblades .)

"Alright. Let's begin…" he trailed off, lifting his hands to the ceiling and staring at her wildly.

The torches blew out, and before she really knew what to do, she heard Kadaj rush at her.

Surprisingly, she blocked his blow with her own combined swords.

"Good. The keys to swordsmanship are grace and instinct." He whispered in her ear.

When'd he get back there!?

She shivered as she felt him wrap himself around her, and begin to guide her in fluid motions. When Kadaj wanted her to move a leg, he'd grind his hips into her bum, causing her to snap in the direction he was motioning with it. When she refused he'd place a firm hand on her thigh or hip and tell/guide her on what to do.

Kadaj wrapped his hands around hers and swung gracefully.

Just as sudden as his mood swing, Kadaj snapped away from her and charged, sword drawn.

He swung. She flipped over it. Kadaj watched her with the calmest look on his face. He smirked as he watched the girl twist her body into a perfect landing, almost as cat like as his own was. She was a beauty.

He swung at her again, and she back flipped thrice to avoid the blade.

Kadaj's temper rose at not being able to strike her, and he full out charged at the startled girl.

Alathia handled it well though. The two were engaged in a full out brawl where anything went.

They kicked, punched, and used the swords to their advantage.

By pure luck, Alathia's swords grazed Kadaj's soft face.

The cut didn't bleed for a moment, and Kadaj didn't move either.

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He lifted a gloved hand to his face, and felt the new wound; it bled. Enraged, he threw his double blade to the ground and tackled her.

She didn't stop him either.

The two lay there for a moment before Kadaj sat up on her, and raised a hand to strike. She winced and turned her head to the side.

Nothing happened.

Confused, Alathia looked up and blushed. He was straddling her, and examining her face.

"Ya know…I kinda liked what you did earlier…" he purred, letting his cheek brush against hers, as he removed himself from her.

She smiled and laughed a bit, reminiscing about her attempt to fake seduce him earlier.

"What's going on!" she screamed in her head.

Then it happened.

In one movement, Kadaj had lifted her from the ground and cuddled her in his arms.

He smiled down and closed his eyes as he leaned in to kiss the surprised girl.

"THE HELL!" she thought just before their lips met.

Kadaj gently pressed his lips against hers. He made her melt by grinding his hips against her own, and kissing her at different pressures...soft and then hard. They pulled away a moment later and stared at each other. Both had disappointment on their faces as neither wanted to stop. She looked at him serenely, as he bit his bottom lip. The stare down lasted for what seemed like an hour before both smiled sadistically at each other.

"If you tell ANYONE…I swear…" he warned.

"I won't tell if you don't" she coughed, slapping his bloody cheek and splashing the glood a bit.

The silent agreement told her training was over. That and the fact he was leading/dragging her out of the dome and back to the house. She smiled, in a daze, and anxiously awaited the moment she could tell Alexia what happened.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N-Haha, rust at people… :sigh: spelling errors. Edited, enjoy.

Chapter 19 Yuffers :victory fanfare:

"I'm hungry!" Alexia complained.

"Go get a piece of fruit!" Kadaj snapped back at the girl lying on the floor.

She grunted. Is that all they ate!?

Alathia seemed to think the same, and rolled her eyes at Alexia.

"So you guys eat lunch…dinner…anything?" she asked the four men as they looked at the women sprawled on the living room floor.

The three younger men looked at Sephiroth questioningly.

"We can't cook…" he said gloomily.

The women gave each other shocked looks. Would they ever eat a hot (or hoot as I'd like to put it) meal again?

"Sometimes Yuffie brings us some food…" Loz smiled sheepishly.

"What!" Alexia gasped.

"Yeah…in exchange for you! She brings us food as a peace offering, and then drags you away for the rest of the night!" Sephiroth smirked.

Loz seemed proud of that…not soaking in the fact that he was just poked fun at.

"Excuse me…WHAT!" Alexia snapped again.

Yazoo smiled at the girl and nodded.

"They're coupled!"

"When! How!" Alathia squeaked out, sitting up for story time.

Kadaj leaned his head back and looked at Loz.

"Well…I kinda snuck away from here to go…ya know have some fun. She was in town, selling materia, so I thought I'd come back with some…So Seph wouldn't attack me tooooooo bad." Loz reminisced.  
"Haha, then she realized who he was!" Yazoo laughed.

"She started to scream, but then ended up…missing? Hmmm! How'd that happen?" Kadaj said slyly.

Loz scratched his head shyly and looked at something over the girls' heads.

"Oh…he yanked me off before I could scream for help." They heard a woman's voice answer Kadaj's question.

The smell of roasted chicken and spices filled their noses as they turned to meet Yuffie. She smiled at them pleasantly, holding the hugest chicken they'd ever seen.

Sephiroth, Kadaj, Yazoo, Alathia and Alexia scrambled for the food, the two girls ignoring the fact they were happy to see another girl.

"Food!" the women screamed, grabbing the chicken before ANY of them got it first, and scurrying off to the kitchen.

Yuffie smiled, glad she was still in one piece, and ran up to Loz.

"Glad to see my peace offerings still work." She chuckled, snuggling up to the strong man still perched on the couch.

She nipped his ear playfully, and heard him moan with excitement. She smiled at him playfully and chomped her teeth together.

"Hehe…:makes the most loud and obnoxious sucking noise that she can: Hiya!" Alathia laughed.

Loz blushed while Yuffie smiled back proudly. She loved them already!

"Heh…they found my bite." Loz winced.

"I figured that out." Yuffie replied, thumbing the dark spot on his neck.

The girls sat back down with their plate of food and waited for the happy couple to finish their story. Yuffie and Loz opted to wait until everyone joined though.

The girls were surprised when Yazoo and Kadaj snuggled themselves next to them, with a plate of their own. Sephiroth trailed in with his own enormous plate and sat away from the couple. He looked down questioningly at Kadaj and Yazoo…but said nothing.

"So…he took off with me to the woods, put me down and backed away like I was sprouting a new set of arms" she laughed remembering as if it were yesterday.

"I was afraid of her!" Loz protested when everyone giggled.

"I kinda felt silly fighting someone that was trying to just get away from me…" she blushed.

"Heh, you felt better about following him home though." Sephiroth smiled, some chicken dribbling out his mouth.

"I was curious! Anyway, I followed him until he got to the Forgotten Capitol. He saw me and…well, invited me over." She laughed.

"Man were we surprised when we came down to her and Loz asleep on the couch." Kadaj laughed, and stuffed some chicken in his mouth.

"The rest is history." Loz smirked, squeezing his woman til she squeaked.

Alexia and Alathia beamed at her and mouthed "SCORE!" before munching away at their food (which Kadaj and Yazoo were eyeing hungrily.).

Yuffie and Loz finished off the rest of the chicken, and Yuffie whipped out a pie for everyone.

"I was wondering when you guys were gonna get these girls!" Yuffie laughed, after finishing a piece of her pie.

"Do you think now that they're here it'll be a little safer to go out?" Kadaj asked hopefully.  
"We hate being cooped up here." Yazoo whined.

Yuffie looked at them warningly.  
"I dunno…Cloud's been so obsessed with you all lately that he stayed the night at the entrance last night.

"Wow…glad we didn't actually try sneaking out." Alexia laughed nervously.

Alathia pondered this idea. "By the way…How'd you get in here if Cloud can't even?"

"Well, Yazoo basically made another Lunar Harp for her. It tricks the forest…But how she gets this far is still a mystery." Kadaj answered.

Yuffie beamed happily. As long as she could get there she was happy.

"Can I borrow your brother again?" she asked Sephiroth playfully.

He nodded…trying as hard as he could to look serious and not crack a smile.

She squealed and attempted to drag him off the couch, causing the hard man to uncontrollably grin.

"Hey don't chew him up too bad! We need him back to help train!" Yazoo screamed at Yuffie as she attempted to drag Loz out the door.

"He won't train them for a while! I'll give him back in time to heal…" she yelled back.

"Ew…" Sephiroth said shaking his head.

"Well, that was nice." Alexia laughed, taking everyone's plates and walking off.

It was early afternoon, and the sun seemed to pour into the house. Loz and Yuffie walked off to Loz's dome, leaving the other five to entertain themselves. Kadaj and Yazoo slunk off to their room, probably to discuss what happened in training, and come up with a strategy for tomorrow. Alathia made her way up to her room, and began playing the Advent Children movie…studying Kadaj's moves in it in hopes of finding a way to beat him.

That left Alexia to clean dishes, and Sephiroth to attempt to hold a conversation with.

Except he stayed on the couch and didn't bother going to the kitchen…That left Alexia time to think about things, and she ended up remembering the notebook.

As quickly as possible she finished the chore, scurried up and grabbed the demon book, and ran back down to loom over Sephiroth.

"Can you explain this?" she asked, shucking the notebook at the calm man.

He smirked. "Are we afraid of a notebook that writes its own story?"

She nodded, not realizing he was teasing her.

":sighs: it was supposed to be a way for us to tell if you were the real thing…a sign that lead us to the two exceptions to our world's magic. WEEEE didn't make this…something else made this…Whether you believe in a god, or supernaturalism…one of those things made it, and they're continuing to write out our lives…Use the notebook…It may come in handy." He smiled, handing it back to her.

"Yeah I know! I used it to warn me when your little brothers were after us."

"And it also hinted to where you were at all times…helping them find you after you'd escaped."

"Traitor…" she mumbled down at the book. It sat there…looking dumb as ever….

"Alright, well, see you at dinner time…if there is a dinnertime." She sighed, gliding up the stairs to her bedroom.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N- ahhh here's where I freaked out because I got a flame… :beats head on table: and I listened to them because??? Edited, enjoy.

Chapter 20 Shoot me.

"You did what!?" Yazoo hissed at Kadaj.

"Kissed her…" he admitted.

Yazoo's cheeks were red. He was angry…but had no room to talk.

"I kissed…gah! They're probably talking about it right now! Those girls probably think we're on the same level as them! Or worse 'cute'! I don't know about you, but I don't want to be thought of as babies." Yazoo spat, slamming himself on the ground.

"OK! I'll admit, WE need to work on hiding our emotions with them. They're the only ones we're having problems with. But I'm sorry…I can't just go turn off how I feel!" Kadaj retorted, slamming himself down in front of his older brother.

Yazoo had nothing else to argue about…so he hurriedly changed the subject.

"What ELSE did you do in training?"

"Worked on swordplay. We did a practice fight, and…just-by-chance," he added quickly, "her sword grazed my cheek."

"Did you lose your temper?" Yazoo questioned warningly.

"No…" Kadaj lied.

"I'm sorry what was that…yes?" Yazoo smirked.

"Yeah…"

sighs heavily "if she picks that up in her fighting, you do realize Seph will kill you a million times. Loz and I will be going out and gathering phoenix downs until we're thirty…"

"Thanks, I caught onto that. So, what did you two work on?" Kadaj poked around playfully.

"Gun…play…" Yazoo fumbled at loss for words. "She hit my toe. Heh, it was quite funny actually. But she too did that by luck." He said disappointedly.

"What do you think we can do tomorrow to show them we're strong, and teach them to show no emotion, other than amusement at the thrill of the fight?" Kadaj asked thoughtfully, not expecting a response.

Yazoo pondered it though. What do you do? Should the men just beat up the girls…nah, that wouldn't teach them anything but pain tolerance. They'll work on that later.

Torture perhaps? No, too soon for that as well…unless.

"Ok, here's the plan…" Yazoo trailed off, as the men took notes and discussed the new plan of action.

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Alathia watched as Kadaj taunted Cloud.

"You see this man? He's our big brother!" he smiled sadistically.

She swooned, and tipped off the bed. Alexia walked in and smirked at her.

"So…ya wanna hear a story?" she smiled playfully.

Alathia was sprawled out on the floor, pausing and rewinding Kadaj. Eventually she agreed to turn the movie off and gossip with her buddy. They laughed at each other about how awkward they were before and during the kisses.

"You forgot he shot you?!" Alathia busted out laughing.

"You let him sit on you again!?" Alexia laughed back.

"Yea, I'm surprised he did it again cause last time…well, you know."

"They're probably talking about how stupid they are. Kadaj will probably do the whole 'oh we gotta prove we're not sissies' thing…And Yazoo would neeeever disagree with him. Grrr. If one of his brothers told him to blow himself up, he'd as 'with dynamite or materia" Alexia complained.

Alathia finally sat up and pondered this thought for a moment… Would the men actually try proving themselves?

"You think they'll do the whole 'It meant nothing' thing that tough guys do?" she asked worriedly.

Alexia's eyes widened with fear. She'd forgotten about that trick. She scowled at the ground and began pacing angrily. This wasn't fair. These men had ripped her away from the man she'd been dating for three years, and Alathia was in the same situation. Yazoo and Kadaj had the nerve to show interest in them at such a vulnerable state? Why would they play even more mind games and blow them off after JUST COMING ONTO THEM?

"Wanna do the thing that girls always do?" Alathia smirked evilly.

"Avoid them?"

"Yup"

"Sure, it always worked for me," Alexia smiled happily.

"Alright, see ya at dinner time. I'ma check out the demon notebook."

Alexia wandered back to her room and plopped down on her soft bed. She threw the covers over her and began reading the silly magical notebook. It was extremely accurate! But she was disappointed to see that it only gave the thoughts of the two women. She knew her own thoughts pretty well…but Alathia's was a whole nother story! They were hilarious!

While reading over the part where she'd pulled out the notebook at the dumpster she busted out laughing.

'Alathia stared at Alexia with terror in her eyes. "You brought that thing!" she blurted out.

"Psycho ass! She WANTS to die! Man…we're so busted…" she thought, letting a squeak escape her throat when the pages began to flutter.'

Most of Alathia's thoughts were similar to that.

Alexia is crazy, random obscenities where she was scared shitless, or just…no thought at all. Alathia's brain worked too fast for the book to catch all the thoughts; it only caught the ones she almost said aloud.

As interesting as the book was, Alexia did drift off to sleep after realizing there would be no dinner. Alathia had drifted off as well…but not in her bed. She was still sprawled out on the floor; movie paused on the scene of the three men looking down at Cloud.

Kadaj was sitting up excitedly on his motorbike, chatting with Yazoo. Yazoo was aaaaaaaaalmost-orbiting-in-outerspace, and staring off into the sky.

Loz was nearly bouncing off the bike with excitement about…MOTHER and BIG BROTHER!

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Alexia awoke in the morning to Sephiroth busting in the door.

"Wake up! It's a gorgeous morning! Rise and shine my little dove!" he shouted at Alexia.

She screeched like a banshee and fell out of bed.

"Where's my guns…" she mumbled, crawling away from him.

"Nice outfit…" he smirked at her.

She was in Scooby-Doo underoos (meaning the type of underwear a little boy would wear if Ur not American)

"I hate you…where are my guns…I'm shooting your head off." She declared, wrapping her comforter around her shoulders.

He smiled brightly and made his way to Alathia's.

"MY GOD COVER YOURSELF!"

"EEEEEP! whimpers"

Sephiroth rushed back into Alexia's room, laughing heartily. He'd seen nothing.

Alexia had found her guns, and by the time he made it back to her room she was aiming for his forehead.

Unfazed, he went on destroying her beautiful morning with the words, "Oh, by the way, there's no fruit. So…no breakfast! Well, you'd better hurry up; you've got a tough day of training ahead."

…

…

…

SHE SHOT MADLY!

Not only did he wake her up in the most obnoxious way possible, he made fun of her skibbies, played a prank on her buddy two seconds later, had NO FOOD for them, and then expected her to get ready for a rough day of training.

He, of course, caught all of them and tossed it at her playfully

"Now now young lady…I know you don't want to battle the great Sephiroth in your underoos." He chuckled, and glided out the door.

"You suck! Just…lettin' ya know!" Alexia shouted after him.

She sighed heavily, and slopped on her battle outfit. Alexia marched into her bathroom and began brushing her long brown hair. She spaced off while in the middle of combing, and began to daydream about Yazoo.

He was so mysterious and handsome, she couldn't figure him out! One minute he was all up in her face trying to attack her… the next he was pouncing on her and trying to woo her…What gives?

As she was spacing off, Yazoo snuck in and watched as she brushed away.

Well, wanting her attention, the small man quickly rushed behind her, and began tossing her hair about happily.

"Hey! I just brushed it!" she snapped, and hit him on the head with her brush.

"I mean, not like you'd know anything about brushing hair." She mumbled, staring at a cowlick on top of Yazoo's head.

He pouted at the insult and lowered his head.

"Aw!" she whispered, and pecked his forehead.

He smiled, and blushed a bit. He couldn't help showing that he cared for her.

His cat-like eyes stared into her own as he leaned in to kiss her once more.

"Yazoo, what are you doing up here?" Sephiroth questioned, interrupting the two love birds.

The boy went pale, and fumbled to find a good reason to be crammed in the bathroom, face to face with her.

"I um, invited him in…wanted to brush his hair." Alexia stammered, and ran the brush through his soft hair once.

It tangled, and Yazoo yelped. She smiled brightly at Seph, and continued to yank it the rest of the way.

"Aie!" Yazoo whimpered, before knocking the brush in the toilet.

Alexia grabbed him by the hair, still smiling brilliantly at Sephiroth and began tugging him out of the bathroom.

He snatched a handful of her hair and tugged back…ending up being a cat fight like Alathia and Kadaj's.

It was quickly stopped by the impatient Seph.

"Yazoo! You don't have time for this. There are people out there dying while you pull this girls hair!" he shouted, ripping Alexia from his grip.

"Yeah! See, at least one of you respects me!" Alexia snapped, fixing her fuzzy head.

She stormed out; leaving Yazoo and Seph alone in her room…giggled when she reached the stair banister…was in tears laughing by the time she reached the trail.

Yazoo joined her shortly, laughing just as hard.

"Ahhh, he totally believed it." He said, wiping a tear from his beautiful green eye, and snatching up her hand.

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Alathia laid there for a moment…still in shock from being woken up the way she had.

What an annoying man…She'll have to dispose of him later.

Alathia uncovered her slender form, which, by the way, was clad in sweat pants and a wife beater. She chuckled when she heard Alexia's guns fire, and Sephiroth toss the handful of bullets back at her, gloating about his power.

Her bright green eyes scanned the room as she stood from her position on the floor.

It was very bright and cheery as the sun poured in through the windows. Had Alathia chosen to sleep in her bed, the glowing sun probably would have awoken her before Sephiroth.

The girl sighed at this thought, and slowly made her way to the bathroom. She shuffled her feet and practically had to drag herself.

"Hey, um…can I come in?" Kadaj fumbled nervously.

She froze in the bathroom doorway. Was he preparing to turn her away…tell her it meant nothing?

"Sure, but you're not gonna see me do anything spectacular though…I'm just gonna brush my teeth." She smiled weakly, trying her best to hide the pained worry.

Kadaj smiled warmly, and followed her into the bathroom. He seated himself on the toilet cushion and watched as she brushed her hair.

"Um, I'm sure you figured this out, but…there is a discussion we need to have." He smirked, letting his cat-like slits scan her over.

He was studying her body language.

Kadaj noticed she'd become tense, and tried his best to keep her in that state. He quit smiling and put on a somber look: As if he had bad news.

She turned to face him and studied the boy's face…realizing he was playing another game.

"Kadaj can you be serious for one second! Quit trying to scare me!" she snapped, tossing her tooth brush at him.

"Maybe I am trying to be serious." He growled standing and pinning her hips to the sink.

She grew pale…falling for his trick, and lowered her head shamefully.

"So are you 'dumping' me?" she asked heavily.

"Ha…no! I'm just playin'. But I do want to talk to you about it." He smirked, pulling away and releasing her hips.

She sighed and snatched at her tooth brush.

He jerked it away, shaking his head.

"Give it!" she whined, practically climbing on top of him as he held it above his head.

"Nah! You don't need it…maybe I should just flush it."

She squirmed faster now! Somehow she'd wrapped her legs around his waist and was climbing on him, grabbing and snatching at the tooth brush.

"Kadaj quit teasing her…I just got done yelling at Yazoo about the same thing! Why do you two like torturing them? Do I really need to talk to you too? Please…allow her to finish getting ready. She should be fully trained by the end of the week. Cloud's only going to sit for so long." Sephiroth grumbled, pulling Alathia off of his little brother, and snatching the tooth brush away.

Kadaj was yanked off (smiling at her and waving goodbye) and taken downstairs to wait for her.

She rushed through her morning routine, and bolted down the stairs to the fruit bowl.

Alathia waved to Yazoo as he rushed out the door, and ran smack into Kadaj.

"Ow!" she whimpered, rubbing her cheek.

"Your chest is hard…"

"Your face is harder." He chuckled, rubbing his armored chest as if he were even slightly wounded.

"I think you cracked my armor!"

"…funny…where's the fruit?" she asked, pouting as she stared down at the empty fruit bowl.

"There's…no more food. But don't worry about it. I go out today to pick more. After training I'll be the one that gets the fruit."

"Can't you grab some meat or vegetables too?"

":sighs: I'll try…but I have to get the fruit first. I'm unsure about how much time I have before Cloud finds me." He said calmly, leading Alathia out towards the dome.

They walked silently down the trail.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N- :Zelda lullaby: …Link Rawks!!! Edit, enjoy

Chapter 21: Abuse me.

Alexia sat on the stone floor and stared at Yazoo intently.

"So what are we doing?"

He eyed her calmly. His small slits widened, making his eyes a bit friendlier. Yazoo relaxed his shoulders and cocked his head to the side bashfully.

"We're going to talk." He spoke softly, and sat cross-legged facing the tense girl.

"I know this is a fairly confusing time for you…And I'm very sorry about going from hot to cold…right back to hot again. Really, I'm not trying to make this even more difficult." He explained.

"But you are."

"I know, and I'm sorry. It's…hard to like someone so much and they don't really think you're real. This isn't a feeling I got just yesterday while you were shooting at me…I've liked you for a while."

"…You knew about Alathia and me before the kidnapping?" she asked, confusion riddling her face.

"Well, yeah. We've been studying you two all through high school. Every three months all four of us would go to the mainland and study you for the night. I mean… we couldn't stay there for long, so it was such a thrill to get to see you. And it was kind of depressing because we were still unsure about if we were even studying the fight people."

"Why couldn't we see you…or tell you were there?"

"Heh…we're good at hiding as well as fighting. Every time you've ever been alone and felt like someone was watching you…that was us." He smiled gently.

Yazoo gave her a moment to let the thoughts sink into her brain.

Alexia finally looked up with pain in her eyes.

"I'm never going home am I?"

Yazoo's smiled faded as he tried his best to hide his own pain.

"Er, um…eventually you can. You don't have to stay here with us. But until Jenova is destroyed and we're stuck in this hole…we cannot return you. You're our world's only hope. Without your help Gaia will die, and Jenova will have her wish." He said, staring at the cold stone floor.

"I'm…not even sure if I want to go home…" Alexia smirked.

"After all that's happened and still has to happen, I'm sure Alathia and I will stay. Heh, There's so much to do here anyway!"

His face immediately brightened, and Yazoo pulled her into him.

She squeaked when the man squeezed her til the bones started popping.

"Okay, onto training." He said, brushing himself off.

"So…what do you have to say about what all's been goin on?" Kadaj asked, not bothering to look at Alathia as he locked the dome door.

"You suck!" she blurted.

"I mean, you kidnap me without even ASKING if we'll help…attack my boyfriend, chase me around like a chicken, take me far away without giving me a chance to say goodbye…You pull my hair, punch me, kick me, scratch me, bite me, and proceed to chase me around until I can't run anymore. THEN, you drag me off into a hole, far away from EVERYONE! And then you proceed to toy around with me! I'm your enemy, then hostage, and then I'm your guest, student, friend, and finally…lover. I can't keep up!"

By the time the angry girl was finished, Kadaj was mashed between the door and her.

He was not the least bit surprised at her aggression, and nipped at her nose warningly to get her off.

"I'm confused myself." Kadaj scowled at her, and slid down the wall.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I've liked you for about five years now?" he questioned, again unable to bring himself to look at her.

"How?"

"Well…" Kadaj sighed, going into the long explanation Yazoo had (don't want to go through it AGAIN).

"I wanted so bad to just…walk up and at least say hello. But Seph wouldn't let us. He said we shouldn't get attached, in cause you weren't the one's we were looking for." Kadaj pouted, staring angrily at the ground.

"Well…that answers a lot of questions. So, what am I to you?" Alathia asked, lowering her head to look the boy in the eye.

"Right at the moment…you're my student." Kadaj said, standing tall and brushing himself off.

Alathia's head snapped up and she opened her mouth to protest. She stopped when she felt his Souba cradle her jaw.

"And we're starting training right now." Kadaj growled, pulling her up by the underarm aggressively.

"Do as I say, or else." He warned, tossing her bound blades at her.

Alathia dared not argue, and snatched up the blades as fast as possible.

Kadaj slunk in front of her, and put his hands behind his back. The man spread his legs apart and lowered his head, so that his eyes had to look slightly upward to glimpse at Alathia.

"I want you to cut me." He whispered, looking straight into her eyes.

"WHAT! NO WAY! WHY WOULD I…" Alathia shut her mouth as Kadaj disappeared.

She shivered when she felt him place the blade across her neck and grab a handful of her soft hair.

"Do as I say. I have good reason…always. This is part of your training. No matter how much YOU don't want to do something I command…you must. Don't…" Kadaj snapped, yanking her head back into him.

"Let your feelings and emotions control you. Jenova would kill you as soon as she found out whom you cared for. She would not hesitate to kill even her own children to survive. Now…" he hissed, releasing her head and gliding in front of her small frame.

"Do your worst."

Alathia took a deep breath and looked him over. Her fiery green eyes burned with anger as she charged at the still man.

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"Excuse me…what?" Alexia blinked, unsure if she heard the man correctly.  
"Shoot me."

"Well run away and I'll shoot AT you!" she tried reasoning with Yazoo desperately.

"No. I already know you can aim. I'm not working on that today."

"Yazoo…This"

"JUST DO IT! You are not to argue with me! I'm preparing you for the worst! If Jenova saw that you'd hesitate to kill me she'd crush you! What if she took control of me? What would you do then?"

"She wouldn't…"

"She WOULDN'T DARE HESITATE to murder her own children in order to bring down the whole human race. Don't let her know you have emotions. Don't let her know you care for anything…because when she finds out…those that are most precious to you will be the first to go." He practically whispered, sending chills down her spine.

"Shoot me." He said, staring off into space…seemingly detached from his whole body.

Alexia closed her eyes and looked right at the ground. She didn't even aim…just stared at the ground. Her eyes rose to him just before the trigger snapped. The crack sounded and she watched Yazoo's shoulder jerk back, spurting a little blood.

"Again…" he whispered, a psychotic look in his eyes.

She shot again, hitting his forearm.

"Keep shooting no matter what I say."

Alexia continued to fire, even when Yazoo begged her to stop.

"Stop! Please! I can't take anymore!" Yazoo hissed, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

She shot

He cried out in pain (even though he wasn't really), and hunched up on the ground.

"No more! Please stop!" he screamed, as she took aim once more.

He heard the trigger click, and felt the last of her bullets enter his thigh.

"Argh!" he howled, rolling on the ground, letting his blood smear everywhere.

Alexia was unfazed, and took aim again. Before she could pull the trigger one more time, Yazoo was behind her, pinning her arms to her back.

The trigger clicked twice.

"That will do." He whispered in her ear, allowing the blood trickling from his mouth to drip on her shoulder.

She shivered and nodded, not even turning to see the damage she'd done.

He smiled coolly, and popped a restore material into his arm. She felt a cool breeze from the magic swirling around Yazoo, and turned to face him.

"That was excellent. The stories always said you two learned exceptionally fast. I'm very proud of you…Alexia?" Yazoo peered at her, worry creeping on his face.

She broke into hysterics, and sank to the ground sobbing.

Yazoo grew extremely pale, and his head lowered in shame.

"I can't take it… This is too much…my head's spinning so fast. I can't…" she choked on her own tears, and sobbed uncontrollably.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't even thinking about…I'm sorry." Yazoo whispered, scooping the sobbing woman into his arms.

She'd been through too much within the past few days.

The girl had gone from living a happy peaceful life, to being chased through town, to being dropped into a new world without even saying goodbye. Then, the one person, other than Alathia, that she was close with forced her to shoot him.

Yazoo cringed as he thought this over.

She continued sobbing on his shoulder as he gently picked her up and carried her towards the door.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Alathia's sword plunged into Kadaj's shoulder with a slight crunch. The man only blinked, showing no sign of pain.

"Again." He mumbled.

Alathia seemed detached. She yanked the bloody swords from his shoulder, and calculated her next cut. She eyed his face curiously just before placing the tips on the middle of his forehead.

"Don't stop…no matter how much I beg or scream." He commanded, staring straight into her eyes.

She stared back blankly, and proceeded to slice from his forehead all the way to his cheek.

Kadaj shivered, and allowed his eyes to soften. A whimper escaped his throat as she made an incision to his jawbone.

She unzipped his jacket with the swords, and carried on making incisions all down his chest, to his belly button, much to his whimpers and cries of protest.

"Stop…it hurts." Kadaj gasped, jerking his newly cut arm away from her blades.

She, in turn, jammed the swords into the already blood shoulder, causing him to scream in agony.

He withered, and fell to his knees weakly.

"Please stop!" he begged, dripping a small amount of blood on her boots.

She stared at him coldly, and dug the blades into his back. Despite his obnoxious screams, she managed to slice from his lower back all the way up to his shoulder blades.

Alathia placed her swords so they cradled Kadaj's jaw, and lifted his head gently. He blinked some of his blood out of his eyes, and smiled at her coldly.

Within a split second, Kadaj was again behind her, holding the Souba to her throat dangerously.

"That's enough for today." He purred into her ear, and popped the restore into his arm.

The breeze from the magic tossed her hair in her face…But Alathia didn't change her position.

"I'm very proud…Hey, are you listening?" Kadaj asked, circling around to face her.

She stared off into space, even when his cat eyes met her dilated pupils. Alathia tried hard not to lose her composure, as she looked him over momentarily.

"Do you feel alright?" he asked, holding her frail body close to his own.

She whimpered, and buried her face into his bare chest. He said nothing, but held her close to him. Kadaj stroked Alathia's hair, and allowed the girl to sob all over him, soaking his chest and stomach with warm tears.

"Don't worry. I promise not to let that happen." He cooed, and picked her up gracefully.

She fell silent, and hugged his shoulders as he carried her out the doors. Alathia stared ahead, letting her tears roll down her cheeks as they made their was back to the house.

Kadaj caught up with Yazoo just before they reached the house. The brothers looked at each other worriedly before stepping into the house. Loz, Yuffie, and Sephiroth all sat on the couch waiting for them.

"Training went well then?" Sephiroth spoke softly, walking up to the two brothers.

They nodded, and squeezed their women tightly.

"Good…no training tomorrow. Does that sound alright ladies?" he asked, as if he were talking to a frightened child.

The girls merely nodded, and huddled closer to Kadaj and Yazoo.

Sephiroth nodded at the men, and they walked upstairs with the girls still clinging to them.

Kadaj placed Alathia in her bed, and kissed her forehead.

"I…I'm sorry" he whispered, almost ready to beg for forgiveness.

"Don't worry about it." She finally smiled, stroking his soft sliver hair.

"If I care enough, I'll understand if it comes time for me to do that. I'll let you die a good man, not a crazy one." She whispered, wrapping her arms around his strong neck.

He squeezed her shoulders, and climbed on top of her.

"I'm very proud of you. Alathia you've dealt with things in the past few days that most people could not. I feel stupid saying this…but…well, um…you amaze me." Kadaj whispered, kissing her forehead.

His tiny slits widened happily when he saw her beam at him.

"Yeah…I'm proud of me too!" she tittered, and leaned in to kiss him.

Kadaj chuckled, and pressed against her.

Moments later (snog fest finishing), Kadaj hoped off, and fixed his hair.

"I'm starving…" he mumbled and zipped up his jacket (forgot that it'd been undone since training).

"I gotta go…it's my turn to get the food." He sighed, and kissed her goodbye.

Kadaj rushed downstairs and met up with Sephiroth, Loz, and Yuffie.

"Where's Yaz?" he questioned worriedly.

"Still with Alexia" Seph answered calmly.

"Give me your sword Kadaj." He commanded.

Kadaj mumbled, and unhooked his sheath.

"What if he attacks me?" Kadaj asked angrily.

"You don't need to slice him into thirds to escape." Sephiroth answered calmly.

"Yeah, but his sword hurts like a bitch when it even grazes our skin." Kadaj protested.

"Then don't let him cut you!" Seph answered, anger becoming apparent in his voice.

Kadaj sighed, and stalked out with a few sacks.

"Wish me luck." He scoffed as he exited the door.

"Good luck." Yuffie called out cheerfully.

"…You'll need it."


	22. Chapter 22

A/N- Edited, enjoy… this was an easy chapter to write lol I remember.

Chapter 22: In the apple tree.

Alathia sighed and sank back under her sheets.

That man was determined to drive her insane. Her brain was still fumbling around with all the information as she tried her best to sleep. It wasn't working. Perhaps she'd calm down with a nice hot shower and a change of clothes.

Alathia sighed and sat up. She spotted Kadaj's pocketknife and chuckled. Looks like he'll be ripping the fruits off instead of cutting them. She placed it gently on her nightstand and made her way to the shower.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Yazoo huddled with Alexia under her comforter. She'd stopped crying and was staring expressionlessly at the floor. They were sitting up on the ground beside her bed.

Yazoo squeezed her until she grunted. That should get her attention.

"Alexia look…I'm alright!" he smiled sheepishly, rocking her back and forth.

"Hm…" she responded, still staring at the ground.

Boy wasn't he awkward.

Yazoo sighed and squeezed her gently this time.

"I'm sorry for scaring you…and rushing you into everything. Your little brain must be ready to explode."

"Did he just insult me, or is he seriously that awkward." She scowled at the ground and thought to herself.

"Please talk." Yazoo pleaded, nuzzling close to her.

"Who are we fighting?" Alexia asked, afraid she already knew the answer.

"Avalanche." Yazoo stated, looking slightly confused.

That was it. Alexia knew that she was now a 'bad guy'. His answer confirmed her fear of being against the heroes.

"After we fight Cloud and make him realize we're on his side…we fight Jenova (or Jehovah as the spell check wants it to be)." Yazoo smiled…uncertainty seeping into the green of his eyes.

That statement blew her mind. They were going to bring the hero near death to show him they weren't bad! And then by some stroke of luck Cloud was going to let them join forces to destroy Jenova!

"What the hell!" she moaned and began wailing.

Yazoo's eyes widened with confusion and he squeezed his sobbing girl.

"OH-GET-AWAY-FROM-ME-YOU-IDIOT!" she spat, shoving and kicking him away from her… It didn't work. His body didn't budge. Instead, she ended up kicking and shoving herself further away from him. But it did get her point across.

He looked at her as if he were stabbed by his best friend, and curled up in a ball.

"How the hell do you think that'll work? 'Oh let's knock the shit outta him and be friends! Then, we can join forces and destroy EVIL!' Ya right! Like Cloud would ever change his mind about us when we bring him to the brink of Death! That'll just confirm that you're all psychos!" she screamed, walking to her dresser.

She was going to change into PJ's.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Yazoo snapped back angrily.

"Um, yeah! DON'T attack Cloud!" she said, slamming the drawer shut and unbuttoning her jacket.

Yazoo opened his mouth to retort, but closed it when nothing came out. He sank back down on the corner of her bed and stared at the ground while she changed.

She sighed and wiped the tears from her eyes before sulking back to the bed.

"Get off my bed nerd." She stated, holding her head up obnoxiously.

"No, you can't command me to do anything. Only Sephiroth and Kadaj can do that." Yazoo smirked hatefully.

…

"Fine." She snapped and began shoving and kicking him off the bed. "I want you out! I've seen enough of you today."

"PUHLEEZ! Like YOU could ever really injure me. Those bullet wounds didn't even hurt!" Yazoo scoffed, pinning her legs down…he was tired of being kicked in the head already.

"You were bleeding like a maniac!"

"So? The only bullets that can hurt any of us are from our own weapons or Vincent's. And the only blades that hurt are, again, our own or Clouds. The only physical attacks that hurt us are from anyone in Avalanche or ourselves…"

"And when Alathia kicks one of you in the groin…"

"Shut up! You're stepping away from the point."

"Why does only Avalanche's attacks hurt you?"

"I don't know! It's just the way things are! That's why none of us are eager to go back into Gaia and scrap with Cloud without weapons. We'd be happy to take Cloud and Co. down, but Sephiroth won't let us."

"LEAVE!" Alexia screamed, pulling Yazoo's hair towards the door.

When'd he let go of her legs?

She slammed the door and locked it behind her. Alexia knew she was NOTHING compared to the men. She could barely aim her guns; much less go into hand-to-hand combat without her neck being snapped.

She sulked off to the bathroom for a shower, trying her best not to give it another thought. When she returned to her room, Alexia noticed a little note just below the door.

It read: "Get your ass downstairs or I'll destroy you…

- 3 Yazoo"

Alexia chuckled happily.

"Aw…I'm saving this." She thought lovingly, and began brushing out her sopping hair.

Thank god she had a lot of brushes or she'd be using the one that was still in the toilet.

Alathia sulked in a moment later, wrapped in her comforter.

"Hello my fluffy friend. What can I do for you? Make it quick, as I am about to be destroyed." Alexia mused, showing Alathia the note.

Alathia laughed and shook her head.

"Maybe you should have hooked up with Sephiroth." She teased and sat down on Alexia's bed.

"Eh, I'd have already been dead by now. He would have come up and slashed my gust out by now." Alexia reasoned thoughtfully.

"Yeah…um anyway:shudders: can I borrow the ol' demon notebook?"

"You mean Red Dream…Apparently it's named itself." Alexia stated, pulling out the notebook.

"Thanks"

"No problem…I have to go now though. Ya got any ideas on a prank to play?" Alexia asked eagerly…She really didn't want to go downstairs.

"Zip his hair up in his zipper…that'll be fun. And it'll give you time to run too." Alathia responded thoughtfully.

"OK!"

Alexia scurried out of the room and romped downstairs…leaving Alathia alone with the demon book.

"Alright…what's lil Kadaj up to?" She thought as she opened to where the writing was still going.

Within a heartbeat Alathia knew something was wrong. The writing was too slow, creeping…just like when Kadaj and Co. were sneaking towards the house. Was someone about to sneak up on Kadaj?

Alathia gasped and snapped the notebook shut. The last line of the writing burned into her brain.

'Kadaj picked at the fruit and placed it in the old sack. Unknown to him, an enemy lurks in the shadow of the orchard. His poisoned blade was drawn and waiting for the unsuspecting youth to draw near. Cloud was waiting patiently for Kadaj to hear his tree.'

The pale girl tossed the notebook and ran frantically back to her room. Alathia quickly shimmied into her battle clothes and attached her blades to her hips. In her rush, she'd accidentally broken the rubber band. That didn't matter. She had to rescue him, even if it meant losing her own life. Alathia strode over to her window when she realized…she had no idea where she was going. How was Alathia going to find him if she didn't even know where he'd run off to?

"Follow me." Alathia heard a voice whisper in her ear.

She shuddered and looked towards the window, where the voice was beckoning her. There was a small piece of material sitting on the windowsill. Alathia immediately picked it up and popped it into her wristband.

"Earth," it whispered in her ear.

It was immediately interrupted by an angry voice hissing "Save my baby."

Alathia felt a strong force pushing her out the window and towards the lake. She didn't have time to tell the others, much less question where the voice was leading her. Alathia knew it was Jenova. The way it kept crying out for her 'baby' and calling Kadaj her son.

Everything went so fast; Alathia didn't remember much of the journey. She remembered going out the window and all the way back through bone village. But she didn't remember much after that.

Her mind was racing too fast for her body to keep up with. She knew there was no way she would ever defeat Cloud. Jenova was attempting to sacrifice Alathia in order to save Kadaj…at least temporarily.

She gasped as Jenova kept her going towards the fighting men, while showing her what'd happened so far.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX We're back tracking a bit XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Kadaj rummaged around in his pocket after spotting a huge, ripe piece of fruit.

Where was it?

"Damnit…must have left it at home." Kadaj mumbled to himself.

After a moment, the frustrated man began yanking fruit from their trees and stuffing them in the sack.

Something was making the boy nervous.

Kadaj turned around and looked around the quiet orchard worriedly. Someone was watching him…ready to strike.

Kadaj sighed when nothing had jumped out at him, and sulked up to an apple tree.

"Fuck…" he snapped when Cloud jumped down from one of its branches.

Cloud smirked at the boy's surprise and held his blade out warningly.

"Long time no see bud." He sneered, slashing at the unarmed thief.

Kadaj merely sighed and flipped over the blade, landing perfectly on his feet.

"Why have you been hiding…only cowards hide." Cloud spat trying everything to anger the boy.

He'd found in previous battles that when Kadaj was angry he was imperfect in his fighting. He left small openings that could prove to be fatal…especially when he was unarmed. It seemed to work as Kadaj attempted to land a spin kick to the blonde's jaw.

"Sephiroth won't let us kill you."

"Oh…so he's hiding too."

"Seph could destroy you with the snap of a finger, why would he hide from you!?" Kadaj growled back, throwing a swing at Cloud.

There was his opening. Cloud snatched up the fist and yanked Kadaj into him. He slammed the blunt end of the sword into the back of Kadaj's head and pinned him to the ground in one fluid movement.

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"No!' Alathia screamed and rushed right into the orchard.

She was too late.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N-I squirmed with all the blood in this chapter… even correcting it. Edited, enjoy

Chizapter 23. Geostigma (or Goodtime as the spell check wants me to write)

Why are you and your brothers making an arm of clones?" Cloud growled, kneeling on Kadaj's arms.

He jammed the sword deep into the boy's shoulder blade, causing him to howl with sincere pain. Kadaj's mind was moving too fast for him. He kicked and screamed, trying anything he could to free himself…but Cloud was not moving.

"Answer me!" he demanded, pressing the sword deeper and ignoring Kadaj's screams and kicks.

"Ahh… I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about." Kadaj winced, finally allowing his body to calm down.

"Wrong answer." Cloud hissed, stabbing the boy in the chest and making zigzags all the way down to his abdomen.

Kadaj gripped the ground, refusing to scream. His warm blood seeped out of the wounds and began spilling on the ground.

"One last time. What are the clones for?" Cloud growled, now standing on the boy's arms.

Kadaj shook his head and hissed at the pain stinging his chest.

"Wrong answer." Cloud smirked and raised the sword high.

Kadaj screamed knowing Cloud was going to jam it into his chest.

Just before the blade reached his body, a black blur tackled Cloud.

"NO!" it screamed, stunning the blonde.

Cloud let his sword drop to the ground as the dark figure caught him off guard.

"Sorry Cloud!" it stammered, as soon as they hit the ground.

It was Alathia, and she was trying her best to hide her face from him. Kadaj moaned and began rolling over. Blood was everywhere. Alathia scrambled off Cloud and ran over to Kadaj.

"Oh my gosh! Are you all right:gasps: your bleeding everywhere. C'mon, we gotta get you home!" she cooed, helping him up.

Cloud sat up and looked at the two.

"What's going on here?" he growled, picking up his sword and striding up to the two.

Kadaj winced and griped her arm helplessly.

"We can't stay, I'm going to bleed to death." Kadaj grunted into her ear.

Cloud wasn't about to let him go…not even if he had to kill this stranger. He made to slice the two in half but was immediately stopped by her two blades.

"Stop it Strife. You know this is wrong." She whispered softly.

"What are they up to? How do you know them?" Cloud yelled, now thoroughly confused.

"They're not up to anything! Jenova's is making the Mako copies of Sephiroth." Alathia snapped, rushing Kadaj over to his motorbike and grabbing the fruit.

Alathia winced as she felt Jenova squeeze her throat for telling the truth.

"You didn't answer my last question." Cloud calmly stated, poising himself for another attack.

"DON'T MAKE ME GO QUAKE THREE ON YO' ASS BOY!" she spat, as Kadaj showed her how to turn on the bike.

The engine revved, and Kadaj clung to her back…blood smearing into Alathia's coat

He winced as Cloud made another strike.

…

…

…

Alathia went all Quake three on his ass and bought them time to escape. She knew that her life had been spared purely by luck…She was lucky the both of them weren't dead.

Alathia'd never driven the bike before…so it was a very bumpy ride. Again, the journey was a blur, and the next thing she realized was that they were back at their home. Everyone, including Yuffie, rushed out to help the two

Kadaj collapsed into Sephiroth's arms and was quickly carried into the house. Everyone followed, eager to see if he was alright…

They tried everything. Restore material stopped the bleeding and worked only a little bit on healing.

Something was stopping it from working to its full effect.

Everyone helped out in one way or another. Loz and Yuffie went out together and got things for soup (Loz in a clever disguises). Alexia and Yazoo quit bickering momentarily and cleaned up the bloody mess; Alexia forcing Alathia to leave Kadaj's side and clean the blood off of her body. Sephiroth restored, cleaned, and bandaged his wounds as best he could.

Alathia stayed by his side…talking and holding his cold hand in order to keep him conscious. By the end of the night everyone was exhausted. Loz walked Yuffie to the exit while Yazoo and Alexia retired on the couch together. Both were leaned against each other, slumbering quietly.

Alathia had fallen asleep beside Kadaj, still holding his hand. Her head was resting on the bed and her figure was slumped over her chair. She felt warm hands gently shake her, and heard Seph whisper in her ear.

"C'mon girl…leave him be. He's asleep now." He said gently as he helped her up.

"I have to talk to you anyway." He smirked, sitting next to the slumbering Yazoo and Alexia.

Alathia knew it was going to happen sometime today, but she still couldn't help but feel unnerved. Seph was such a scary man, and having to sit so close to him was nerve wrecking. His dark eyes bore into hers as he asked his first and last question.

"How did you know?"

She sighed, and poured her guts out to him. Alathia told him everything…from what happened in the room before he left all the way to them coming home. She didn't look up once; too afraid of seeing his reaction to what they'd done in the room and to her hearing and obeying Jenova.

When she finished, there was a moment of silence.

Sephiroth finally sighed and lifted her chin up to look at him.

"He's contracted Geostigma. Jenova poisoned Cloud and his blade with her clones. Every time their mako (or mayo as spell check states) blood spattered from him killing one, Jenova penetrated his body. Now, not only is Cloud stricken by it…Kadaj is too.

Do you see why we need your help now?

By tomorrow…Yazoo, Alexia, you and I will be ill too…we haven't much time left." He spoke softly.

Alathia was angry with herself…she'd let Jenova penetrate their fortress. She felt as though she were fighting a losing battle.

"What do you want from me?" she choked, staring right into Sephiroth's glowing green eyes.

"Alathia, I'm tired…I'll discuss this with you and Alexia tomorrow. For now…you need your rest. Go to bed." Seph sighed, and walked her to the stairs.

Alathia agreed and slunk up the stairs. She was asleep before her body even hit the bed.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N- Haha… btw I did move into Linz's. It was a blast there while it lasted. But my family pissed me off so bad that I just wanted out of our town. Out of the town I lived in since the 3rd grade. I live out here now… in Marshallville… Cows and horses surround me. Its peaceful and NO one can find me. Not even my family.

Chapter edited, enjoy.

Chapter 24: Visitor

"Yuffie, everyone's got the marks…I don't think…Well yeah, but…

Yuf! They're all dying…you and I are the only one's that didn't get sick.

No…

Yes…

What! Are you trying to tell me everyone got sick from Kadaj's blood?

Oh yeah…we didn't…but Yuffie!

:sighs: fine. Bring her. I'm not sure how they'll take it, but its worth a shot…I'll meet you." Loz mumbled and snapped his cell phone shut.

He sighed heavily and looked over at Seph, Yaz, and Alexia. They were all slumbering sort-of peacefully on the only couch. Loz chuckled to himself when he noticed how funny they all looked.

Yazoo and Alexia were huddled in a corner, while Sephiroth was all sprawled out, combat boots resting on Yazoo's lap. His long, silver hair fell gracefully around his face, all the way to the floor. Loz shook his head, and rushed out the door, looking one last time back at the ill group.

Moments after Loz left, Kadaj emerged weakly from the bedroom.

Gasping for air slightly, the boy trudged into the kitchen for water. He tired his best to keep quiet, but failed. Just as Kadaj placed his empty cup in the sink, heavy footsteps made their way towards his small frame.

"Kadaj, you shouldn't be up on your own." Sephiroth's stern voice grumbled as he walked over to his youngest brother.

"Sorry…what's…I'm too weak to argue." Kadaj pouted, and began the journey back to the room.

"I'll take you."

"No, I don't want to be treated like a child. Leave me. :gasps:" Kadaj yelped as he stumbled forward weakly.

Had it not been for Sephiroth's stubborn manner, Kadaj would have totally smashed his head on the counter.

"Number one: What I say goes. Two: You are still a child. Three: I want you to use your strength to heal…not fight me." Seph stated, carrying his angry brother back to bed.

"I'll explain everything."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"So you know about Alathia and I…" Kadaj grumbled.

"I'm not blaming you for anything if that'll put you in a better mood. But you must realize that she's only been here a couple days. The girl's got months worth of training…and we have only months to finish Jenova (oh no the evil Jehovah!) before…she finishes us." Seph tried explaining.

"You're all sick too?" Kadaj asked solemnly.

"Yes."

"Including Alathia?"

"…Yes."

"I'm going to bed…please leave me."

Seph blinked at Kadaj and looked at him in confusion. The boy had never cut Seph short in conversation…much less refuse to talk.

Kadaj rolled over and that was that.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Alathia moaned as she awoke that morning. Her entire body ached because of the events from the night before. Everything seemed to be in suspended animation.

The sun hadn't made its way into the room, so it was still dark. Her clothes were the same way they had fallen on the bed the night before. Alathia's bloody clothes still lie in a heap behind the door.

She groaned as she felt dull pain throbbing in her wrists and upper arm.

"OH-MY-GOSH!" she screamed as she looked at the trouble area.

She'd never seen Geostigma before. Purple and black bruises surrounded her wrist and made a band around her arm.

Immediately, Alathia rushed down the steps, waking Yazoo and Alexia.

"What's wrong Alathia?" Alexia sighed as she made room for herself on the couch (which meant Yazoo had to move over).

"Geostigma…" Alathia whispered, showing them her arm and wrists.

Yazoo and Alexia looked at each other before checking themselves for it.

"My hands…your hands…was it from…"

"Kadaj's blood." Sephiroth said as he returned from the bedroom.

"Jenova's found us. Seems to me she was using Cloud as a tracking device, and waiting for the most opportune moment to attack." He grumbled, showing the three his infected chest.

"I thought Geostigma wasn't contagious." Alexia complained.

"That's just in the movie. This is real life." Yazoo sighed.

"Well, what do we do now?" Alathia asked.

"Today is your resting day. Training will resume tomorrow. Yazoo looks like you've got yourself a new student." Seph chuckled as Yazoo rolled his eyes.

"Hey…Where's Loz? He was here, like, a half hour ago. He usually says something before he goes off with Yuffie." Yazoo questioned, looking around for his older brother.

"He was arguing with her on the cell phone this morning…and rushed out to meet her." Alexia sighed as she stretched out…hitting Yazoo playfully in the head.

He automatically went into combat mode and started wrestling with her.

"Knock it off you two." Seph grumbled, just before they both jumped on him and attacked.

As soon as she noticed the three were distracted enough to escape, Alathia sluffed off to Kadaj's side. She entered the room quietly, and sat in her chair next to the bed.

Alathia watched as Kadaj twitched in his sleep. He was so peaceful.

"LOZ! Ti-Tifa! What did you bring her here for!" Alathia heard Yazoo shout.

"Loz don't let him attack her!" Yuffie screeched.

"Watch it you're gonna break…

:crash:

… the only freaking vase in the house… great! Now will you knock it off retard!?"

"I think I have glass in my foot… it kinda hurts."

"Suck it up! Walk it off Alexia."

"…I hate all of you…"

"Even me?"

"Especially you Tifa."

What was going on?

Alathia squeaked and huddled close to Kadaj.

"Please don't let them come in here." She thought as she squeezed his arm tightly.

"Mmm…Alathia, what's going on? Why are they all fighting?" Kadaj whispered as he came out of his short-lived nap.

Silence.

"Something's wrong." Kadaj whispered and squeezed Alathia.

The door creaked open, and the two shivered with uncertainty.

Footsteps neared them…a lot of footsteps.

"This is Kadaj?" they heard a woman's voice ask curiously.

Alathia peeked up and gasped. Tifa was watching them.

"Yuffie brought you." Alathia said, stroking Kadaj's hair to calm him down.

Tifa nodded and let her curious eyes fall back on the boy in the sheets.

"Oh my…" she whispered as Kadaj rolled over to meet the stranger.

"What'd he do…what have we done…" she whispered gently tugging away the sheets to better see the gashes.

"Get away. I don't need your help. My brothers and I are fine." Kadaj hissed, yanking the covers above his head.

Tifa smiled playfully and reached into her pocket.

"Yuffie said you might say that, so I brought a peace offering."

Kadaj peaked out from under his covers and eyes her gift.

"CANDY!" he shouted, snapping up (ignoring how painful it was to do so) and snatching the candy away from her fingers.

"See told you! They love food!" Yuffie beamed at her.

Alathia smiled as she watched Sephiroth eating away at a whole chicken, and Yazoo munching away at a few hamburgers.

"Would someone get the glass out of my foot?" Alexia pouted, sticking her tongue out at Tifa.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"So you think by bringing them here and seeing us it'll change their minds." Seph questioned.

They'd moved to the living room, and Kadaj was asleep on the couch. His upper body was bandaged and resting on Yazoo's lap. Tifa watched his chest rise and fall as the young boy slumbered peacefully.

"Yeah! It'll work…at least better than you beating us all up to show us you're on our side." Yuffie chuckled.

"We can help train the girls." Tifa added.

"They can learn skills from all of us. It'll give them a better chance to defeat Jenova."

"How will you hide it from your precious Cloud?" Seph smirked evilly.

"He…doesn't talk to us anymore. Just stops by occasionally to pick up the deliveries. It won't be too hard." Tifa said softly.

"THAT MEANS WE CAN GET OUTTA THE HOUSE!" Alexia screeched, causing Kadaj to wake.

Damnit… He'll never get to sleep normally as long as these girls were around.

"And that means I don't have to train both of them." Yazoo beamed, sticking his tongue out at Kadaj.

"Maybe you can earn money while your out...bring home food and cook for us." Seph smiled persuasively.

They weren't going out and having fun without some type of responsibility.

"Damnit…" Alathia hissed.

"Oh c'mon! We've been here less than a week! How ya gonna make us get a job already!" she complained loudly.

"I just did."


	25. Chapter 25

A/N-Edited, Enjoy

Chapter 25 Bone Village meets Yazoo

Alexia charged the enemy, ready to use her gunblades as a sword. Tifa smirked and popped a water material into her wristband.

"Water two!" she shouted and directed the powerful magic attack at the charging woman.

"She absorbed it…good." Tifa thought as she flipped over both the gunblades when they were swung at her.

Alexia hissed with anger and followed suit after Tifa.

"You're getting stronger." Tifa whispered as Alexia blocked one of her flying kicks to the head.

She grunted as one of Tifa's fists met with her chest.

Alathia rushed at Tifa and made a slash in order to protect her companion. Tifa blocked and hurriedly back flipped away. Her feet slammed into the ground causing dust and dirt to fly in every direction. At the end of her retreat she slammed down one last time, legs bending from the pressure.

Sure enough, Alathia created a special attack. The fierce blonde twirled furiously as she held her swords out to either side of her body. Alathia's hair and trench coat flew about as they met with strong wind resistance.

The rubber band around the blades was stretched to its limit and pressed itself against her neck.

"Looks like we'll be removing those rubber bands soon." Tifa laughed as she used Alathia's shoulder as a spring.

Just before landing on the ground, a bullet pierced her thigh and she yelped in surprise.

"Never let your guard down." Alexia hissed.

"Neither should you." Cid snapped, just before jamming his spear deep into the back of her shoulder, spattering blood on his face.

Alexia seemed unfazed by the surprise attack, and merely peered over the shoulder at him. Cid watched as the android-like girl sighed heavily and cocked her guns. Stretching the band to its full length, the young woman slid the guns to her sides and twirled in a similar fashion to Alathia's. Bullets flew by everywhere as Avalanche desperately retreated to avoid them.

Alathia smiled evilly at her best friend and thanked her.

"I owe you." Alexia responded while popping in a restore materia.

"Restore All!" she shouted just before collapsing to the ground in pain.

Alathia joined her.

Geostigma had become a major problem in these training sessions. Their flesh burned as magic traveled through it, trying its best to heal... it never fully worked.

As the girls regained composure and regrouped, Avalanche had time to advance once more.

"Those were beautiful attacks. Did you learn those from the Brothers?" Red XIII growled, ever so politely, as he leapt at the blonde warrior.

"Kadaj and Yazoo taught us." She responded in a shallow voice as she slashed away at her enemy.

Her heart was racing and throbbed as it pounded against her chest. Alathia's lungs begged for oxygen as Geostigma began to get the better of her.

Red XIII darted every which way; avoiding any and all blows she was tossing his way. Finally, after one last special attack, Red XIII pounced and pinned the exhausted girl to the hard ground.

"Training is finished young cub. You are defeated." He purred as his big face loomed over hers.

She sighed and looked off in the distance at her best bud.

Alexia was now running away in fright as both Barret and Vincent chased her through the empty field. She always played a game of tag when she was tired…

"GET-AWAY-OH-MY-GOSH-YOU'RE-SO-FREAKY!" Alexia screamed, all her words slurring together into one as she tossed a rock at Vincent.

"Good…use your environment to your advantage." Vincent smirked, clawing at Alexia's back.

"GET AWAY!" she squealed, kicking him in the head and turning to run again.

Alexia squeaked, as she slammed right into the belly of Barret. She was exhausted, and he could feel her entire body pulsating with its over-worked heart. Alexia's lungs gasped for her, choking the young girl on the air it brought in. She coughed and clung to his shirt for support.

"Training's over. Now get yo' geek ass in the house!" Barret snapped, shoving Alexia in the direction of Seventh Heaven.

Alexia kept coughing, but obeyed. Vincent glided up to the two and joined in their walk…until he got another rock to the head.

"GET AWAY! YOUR SO SCARY!" Alexia squealed, and dashed ahead, towards Cid and Tifa.

Alathia caught up a moment later and laughed at her best friend.

"You're so odd! Why are you afraid of Vinny?" she laughed.

"That's not my name little girl!" he interrupted.

They ignored him.

"He's a vampire! He'll bite me and I'll be forced to live in the shadows and have nightmares for the rest of my life!"

"Am not! Will not!"

Again…ignored.

"Hey dipshit, didn't Sephiroth tell you not to make holes in us!" Alexia snapped, slapping Cid on the back of his head.

"Yeah, so? You think I'd actually take orders from someone?" he snapped back, threatening her with his spear again.

"You will when I show him what you did! You know we can't fully restore ourselves." She smiled evilly, taking out the restore materia and handing it to Tifa, its owner.

Red XIII trotted alongside the exhausted women.

"I smell food…hot soup, hot meat, fresh bread…cider…Yuffie's got lunch all ready for us." He purred, licking his lips.

Sure enough they entered the house to find Yuffie and Loz setting the table.

"Awww, cute apron Loz!" Alathia cooed when he turned to face them all.

"Man, we gotta chill sometime…before you turn into a woman." Barret sighed, walking past the embarrassed man.

"Agreed." both Cid and Vincent chimed in, shaking their heads in shame.

"Hey, at least I can dress in an apron and still get women. You three haven't gotten any in years." Loz sneered back.

The three grumbled under their breath and wandered into the washroom to clean up.

"Hey girlies! Grab some grub before you go off to work…Keep your strength up." Yuffie smiled, piling meat, soup, and bread on her and Loz's plates/bowls.

"You do know Sephiroth, Kadaj, Yazoo, and I are training you tomorrow right?" Loz asked just before scarfing up some food.

"Yeah…:changes subject: Yazoo and Kadaj were so happy about being able to come see us at work, they nearly tore our heads off. 'Oh my gosh, I get to see you in something other than your battle outfit or sweatpants!' Ya know, just for that, I should wear those pants…they're comfy, I don't know why he doesn't like me wearing them!" Alexia complained, still removing her trench coat (but leaving the combat gloves on to better hide the ugly Geostigma).

"Aw, we should totally do the show in our skibbies! That'd be fun!" Alathia squealed happily.

"Maybe they'd care about that. Hehe, there's thousands of people chillin' out in the audience. Lots of them are other guys."

"Aw! He'd actually feel slightly threatened by something!" Alathia mumbled as she went into thought.

The three men and cat came back in and sat far away from Yuffie and Loz, obviously still angry about his comment.

-After Lunch-

"Alright we're gonna go." Alathia said as she grabbed her duffle bag.

Alexia agreed and the two rushed down the road to some motorbikes (which they got the same way Advent Children's silver-haired-men got theirs…they just had them, no explanations .). The bikes' back tires spat out gravel as they sped off towards 'work'.

Trees and cold stony building whirred past them as they rushed down the deserted streets of Midgar (MIDGET!), towards Kalm Town.

"Slow down!" Alexia shouted over the roar of the engines.

"What!" Alathia laughed as she sped up even faster.

"Slow down!" Alexia screamed again.

"Why!"

"Fuckin' Cloud's right up there! Look!"

"Shit!" Alathia whispered, as she slammed down hard on her breaks.

The bike jerked about dangerously as she tried desperately to slow it down. Alexia stayed beside her just in case the bike tipped. Finally, the tires agreed to stop about six yards from where the angry blonde was standing.

"We meet again!" Linz smiled happily, trying her best not to seem like the enemy.

Alexia just glared at the man, fingers already on the gunblades. He stared coldly back, not responding to Alathia's greeting.

"Who are you…I see you have a friend." Cloud hissed, taking the blade from its sheathe.

"Oh yeah! This is Alexia. I'm Alathia. Nice to erm, meet you?" she tried again, eyeing his face for any sign of softening.

"I don't care what your names are. I DO care that you saved Kadaj a few months ago…that was the most dangerous mistake you'll make." Cloud sighed, spreading his legs into fighting stance.

Alexia withdrew her gunblades and glared at him warningly.

"I'm not letting you chop up my boyfriend or his brothers" Alathia growled, letting it be known that he'd struck a nerve.

"That child loves nothing but his mother. :chuckles: You're nothing but a toy…. a puppet for them all to play with. You and your friend are just marionettes." Cloud smirked, knowing he'd pushed their last buttons.

"Take that back…" Alexia glowered, pointing one of the magnificent gunblades right at his chest.

Cloud said nothing; just smiled.

":sighs heavily: There's no other way we can get you to change your mind?" Alathia asked; clinging to the last bit of respect she had for him.

Cloud merely shook his head stubbornly.

"Fine :pulls out blades:, Let's dance."

Cloud rushed at the women fiercely slashing at their stomachs.

The girls dodged the attacks and made the battle seem effortless, like they were dancing.

Cloud's mind and body may have appeared strong, but Geostigma had slowly eaten away at it, making him slow. The women noticed and put away their weapons at any moment they had.

"Quit defending and start fighting." Cloud hissed as Alathia flipped gracefully over his slashing swords.

"Cloud…you're weak. I don't want to fight you." She responded with sincere sympathy.

"Typical puppet." He hissed as she flipped off towards the motorbikes.

"Take it back!" Alexia growled, kicking him in the side.

Cloud knows how to work anger…he used it to blind his opponents. At the most opportune moment, in the middle of her kick, Cloud slashed at her throat.

Alexia yelped and bent backwards to avoid certain death. Warm blood trickled down her arm as a gash just below her shoulder was made by the blade. She retreated to the bikes and ignored the worried look from Alathia.

"We don't have time for this…Alexia and I have been delayed long enough. We'll meet again very soon." Alathia hissed, discreetly popping an earth materia into her wristband.

"Did I say this was over?" Cloud smirked playfully, raising a blonde eyebrow.

"Again…don't make me go all Quake 3 on yo' ass." She hissed back, mounting her bike and smiling at Alexia

"Watch this." She whispered to her bloody friend.

The two started their motorbikes and Cloud advanced.

…

…

Alathia again went all quake 3 on his ass and they sped off towards 'work', now a tad later than normal.


	26. Chapter 26

A/N- Edited enjoy.

Chizapter 26 Red Dreams.

Blood still trickled from the wound as the women sped off through the deserted roads. Alexia felt a little lightheaded, but didn't want to stop. Instead, she used a restore materia and screamed random obscenities until the searing pain dulled.

"'Atta girl…suck it up." Alathia laughed as they reached Kalm town.

Alexia grumbled under her breath as the two got off the bikes and made their way to a huge building. Neon lights trimmed its boarders, and a pulsing beat could be heard from the inside. Young adults stood in a single file line, itching to step inside.

":sighs: we have to hurry. Show starts in a half hour." Alexia said calmly as they walked past the bouncers.

Yes, they worked at a nightclub. The neon lights seemed to tangle together right above the entrance to create three words: Chase the Lullaby. The DJs were testing the systems with the best songs they had, while other workers scurried about, preparing everything before everyone came in.

Since rushing about seemed to be the thing to do that night, the girls fit right in as they sprinted to the dressing rooms.

"Nah! 25 minutes to be up on stage. :sighs and reaches into the bag: AH! Where's all my leather crap:pauses and things a bit: YUFFIE! Damnit! What the hell's this frilly pink…SANDALS? I have to flip around and toss myself about in sandals! What the :thrashes around angrily: all right…whatever. At least they have nice tread." Alathia grumbled as she pulled out a frilly/short skirt, tiny white tank top, and pink sandals.

Alexia laughed and posed in her equally as girlie, full-white outfit.

"Yuffie was complaining about us looking like depressed Goths while the other girls were dressed 'correctly'" she tittered and plopped in a chair to do her makeup.

"She doesn't get her earth materia back."

"I heart you Alathia, but its makeup time."

The girls only had twenty minutes left, and it was to be spent on hair and makeup…

And since no one wants to hear the details on how they put on the makeup and what all they did to their hair, I will simply go into the author's rundown of everything that has happened so far. It'd been 4 months since the day Tifa met the men. She and Yuffie had eventually built up the courage to show the rest of Avalanche the men. Cloud had no idea…he would never know because the man had stopped communicating with everyone.

The first thing that would happen is the member of Avalanche would ALWAYS attack Loz…always. Loz would eventually hide behind Tifa and Yuffie. The women would always get pissed off about wasting time, and drag the member to the boats. Then, as soon as they got in the house, Sephiroth always had to go into battle…whether he was eating a sandwich, taking a nap, or fixing Kadaj's bandages.

Then, they'd meet Yazoo, and attempt to battle with him. But the boy would always fall down gasping for breath…He'd sulk off into Kadaj's room, and the member would then see the horrible state he was in. They'd take a good look at what was going on, and would always whole-heartedly agree to help.

That's how it went…every time.

Kadaj coincidentally never healed until he met them all (maybe it had something to do with the magic on the forest). And still, no one knew how the enemy could slip in through the protective barrier on the entrance.

Tifa figured it was because of Jenova, but no one was exactly sure.

Training the girls had become everyone's responsibility. The silver haired men were often too ill or would suddenly start choking on their own breath and hunch over in pain in the middle of battle.

Avalanche did their best to train them, and taught the girls all their moves. Occasionally, the silver haired men would pop out of their hole in the ground and to watch training.

Sephiroth seemed to be watching for something every time they trained with the men. They remembered the first time Sephiroth walked away with a smile on his face.

The women were training extra hard one day. Finally, when they were almost certain they were going to lose…something happened. The horrible red dreams from before seeped into their conscious minds and startle them.

Did they go unconscious…they didn't really know.

All they did know was when they had full control of themselves once again, their opponent lay unconscious, and Sephiroth was doing a jig.

It happened anytime the silver haired men could fight them. They'd fight, the red dreams would take over just before they gave up, then they'd wake up to find their opponent battered/beaten/unconscious, and Sephiroth would always be doing something that made them smile.

Perhaps his jig was his never before seen victory pose.

When they asked what happened, he'd always say they'd reached their ultimate form…when further questioned, Seph would never answer…just say that they'd see in due time.

The girls also gained extra responsibilities. A job was required of them in order to buy food, defense shields, materia, and whatever else they wanted.

The house rarely needed cleaned (there was no dust and no furniture…until later) so Sephiroth tried getting them to cook…he was successful.

Alathia and Alexia enjoyed their freedom and responsibilities. Remember how they didn't like their being no furniture? Guess who furnished each room?

The women also went out and bought the men real clothes…cause they were sick of the dark, dreary, leather outfits.

The men also received underwear because…well, no one wanted to see them artfully covering themselves with bathrobes (excluding fan girls).

Of course the men complained! Yazoo and Kadaj retorted with, "GO buy yourself some clothes." But ya know what…they were totally ignored.

Their job of choice was a small dance club in Kalm town that wasn't even fully finished when they applied.

The women started off passing out fliers at each town. They quickly moved through different positions such as waitress, bussers, cooks, djs, and finally their position at that moment.

Here they sat, sprucing themselves up to sing and dance and… Pretty much entertain the club with live entertainment.

"You ready?" Alathia asked as she finished her lippy.

"Yup, let's go. Shit, I hear them starting the song…Hurry!"

They rushed up the spiral steps and out to the stage.

"Where were you?" one of the dancers questioned as they rushed out on the stage.

"We got…er… hung up in Midgar. Sorry." Alexia answered sweetly and positioned herself next to another dancer.

"Hehe! Well tell us if anyone tried pickin' on you…we'll beat 'em up for ya!" the girl answered and skipped to her own position.

"You couldn't beat up a radish if you tried." Alathia thought as she positioned herself next to her and smiled politely.

The beat of the music made their bodies throb as the laser lights swirled around them. The music dimmed and the women began to sing they lyrics.

"I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me.

I still feel your tough in my dreams.

Forgive me my weakness but I don't know hwy.

Without you its hard to survive."

They backed away from the crowd and began swaying their hips around dangerously while the melody and throbbing beats took over.

All six girls scattered and began 'doing their own thing'.

After the song finished, Alathia and Alexia scanned the crown for Kadaj and Yazoo.

There they were…front and center.

"Wonder if they can see up our skirts?" Alathia laughed to Alexia, covering her mic and still dancing.

"Not about to ask!" she responded, jumping up and down, still trying to get everyone going.

Alathia laughed and pointed at them. Their disguises made them look odd! Although they were still wearing the leather outfits that made them look dangerous… The boys looked goofy. Kadaj had temporarily dyed his hair blue…Yazoo's was orange. Someone had gotten a little happy with the makeup, and they now looked a "sun-burnt bronze" color, complete with rosy cheeks.

The night was filled with lovely music and beautiful lighting…I'm not writing out another song because it's too hard to describe dancing…. ya just do it.

Eventually the women met up with their men and left. They rode together all the way home…bickering the entire time.

"You dance like a ninny!" Kadaj smirked.

"At least I don't look like one!" Alathia huffed.

"Oh would you two be quiet. You're giving me a headache!" Yazoo complained.

"Really! Cause your hair's making my eyes hurt." Alexia laughed.

Yazoo glared at her and tried knocking her off the bike.

"Hey, I thought you liked me!" she gasped, trying not to fall off.

"I do. Otherwise my precious hair wouldn't be a neon orange color. Its like a bright sign saying 'I'm yours!'" he laughed and stared ahead lazily.

"Your hair changes color too! So does your skin…and eyes…and your outfit…" he stated loudly.

"Shut it Yazoo. They're to find out on their own. Maybe tomorrow during training." Kadaj hissed.

The women just gave each other a confused look, and let the rest of the way to the city be silent. They wandered through the forgotten city quietly and began talking again once on the trail to home.

"Why do you still wear your combat gloves while your performing?" Kadaj questioned softly as he began removing them.

My hands are black with that disease…that's why I wear a band on each of my upper arms as well. Don't want anyone to know I'm sick." Alathia reasoned, allowing him to remove the silver bands around her arms as well.

He sighed and wrapped his strong arms around her gently, placing his chin on her shoulder.

"Have I thanked you enough for helping me like that?"

"Yes, you've thanked me well over enough. In fact, if you thank me once more, I think I'll have a go at your stash of candy again." Alathia warned, and Kadaj bit her shoulder.

"Ow! What was that you ninny?" she questioned with confusion in her eyes.

"You're gonna get chunky if you keep eating all my candy." Kadaj smirked evilly.

"Really, why aren't you fat then? All you do all day is eat candy and sleep. Possibly have a drink when Alexia and me come home, even though we're totally not allowed."

"I know, that's the whole fun in it." Kadaj interrupted.

"Why do you get off the point!" Alathia spat, and received a stone twig to the face.

"Shut up, Seph'll hear and they'll have to sleep in their own beds." Alexia growled, as they entered the house.

"Maybe I don't want him in my bed tonight." Alathia mumbled as she threw off her trench coat and made her way to the kitchen for a drink.

"You don't mean that do you?" Kadaj said, sounding thoroughly crushed.

":sighs heavily: Of course not. What do you want to drink?"

"I want a shot or two." Kadaj smirked.

"You look so funny with your hair and makeup." Alexia laughed at the two boys.

They glared at her and sat down at the counter. Alathia gave everyone a shot (of what…who knows, lol. Let your imagination take over there). Alathia downed hers first and waited for everyone else. Kadaj looked her over curiously and smirked. She gave him a confused look and proceeded to wait for him to down his.

Kadaj dumped the amber liquid in his mouth and leaned in for a kiss. Fooled by his charm, she opened her lips…only to receive a now warm shot of liquor down her throat. She growled in protest, but stopped after she felt his soft tongue against hers.

He pulled away a moment later, a look of accomplishment on his face.

"You are freakin' evil."

"I know ." Kadaj smiled.

Alexia sniffed at her shot curiously and watched as Yazoo downed his.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxFive minutes PassXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Just give it to me sissy! I'm tired of waiting." Yazoo sighed, snatching the shot away from Alexia's nose and downing it.

They all wished each other good night and separated at the bedrooms.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" Kadaj asked sheepishly.

"Of course you can you fool…Just go take a shower and wash out that funky crap." Alathia laughed, playing with a piece of his blue hair.

He beamed back and shut himself in her bathroom.

Alathia cleared off her bed and made room for Kadaj. After all the extra pillows had been removed, she proceeded to get into her own nightie.

Kadaj emerged a moment later, back to his normal self.

"Hm…nice." She whispered shyly as he walked out in a towel.

"You too." Kadaj purred, pinning her against the wall and letting the towel unfasten on the side.

He was still wet, and droplets of water trickled down his soft cheeks, down to the towel around his thin hips.

Slowly, he leaned in and allowed his lips to meet hers. The towel dropped to the floor.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Yazoo danced about in his towel, singing his own little song, and laying his own little beat. The towel eventually flew off as the man jumped up and down on the bed angrily… Alexia was fast asleep.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N-Edited Enjoy.

Chapter 27 Chocolate Covered Cherries

"Is Cloud right? We did just…and we do it all the time to. He might not love me. Cloud could be right. Why am I so worried? It was just some random thing he said, why does it bother me this much?" Alathia thought as she woke up alone that morning.

All night, that's all she thought about; what Cloud said during the fight.

"They don't love you."

Were they really only toys? What would happen when they grew tired of them? And worse, what would happen after the final battle with Jenova and her army of Sephiroth replicas? Feeling like a lost child just as she felt before, Alathia slunk into the bathroom for a hot shower and some 'I gotta rethink everything' time.

Alathia let the water sting her skin until it became comfortable and relaxing. As the water pounded into her back the memories rushed back.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Mark: "Do you love me?"

Alathia: "What?"

Mark: "Do you love me?"

Alathia: "Yeah, I think so. Why? How can I tell?"

Mark: "Well for one, we can hold a full conversation without ravishing each other, so…that's gotta say something! Do you get a funny feeling when you see me come your way?"

Alathia: "Ahha, true. And yeah, even after we've dated for years now I still feel giddy when I see you."

Mark: "Me too…maybe that's how we cant ell we're in love. Do you regret anything we've done?"

Alathia: ":contemplates: No, I guess not."

Mark: "If you were to move away, or if I were to, would you wait for me? Or would you move no?"

Alathia: "I'd wait forever if I had to. No one can have me but you. Now, ravish me like there's no tomorrow. Enough of this silly seriousness."

Mark: "Ooook!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"What have I done? This has to stop." She thought as she turned to let the hot water hit her face.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"I feel really dirt…we do this all the time; fool around, fall asleep together, and when I wake up he's gone. Never have I woke up with him there, not even the first time. Then when I want to talk about it, he pretends nothing happened! Why can't I talk to him? Why can't he talk to me? Ever…:sighs: Cloud was right, as much as I hate to admit it. Something's definitely wrong." Alexia mumbled to herself as she readied for the day.

Jason and she had been able to talk about anything and everything. Yazoo would only talk to her about formal matters, such as training. Most of HIS training consisted of them fooling around…it was wrong…very wrong.

Perhaps a test was in store…test if Cloud was right; if they didn't love them.

Alexia tied her dripping hair back into a bun and crawled into the combat outfit. Irritated about how much she'd been thinking, the girl stomped downstairs for breakfast.

"Hey Alathia," she smiled evilly and stopped her in front of the kitchen door.

"Do you think Cloud could be right?" she asked, playing with the collar on her jacket.

"Maybe…I was actually planning on trying to talk to him about it. But I really don't know how to talk to him." Alathia whispered so no one but the two could hear.

The men were nibbling away at some random pieces of fruit and staring at each other when the girls entered.

"Morning, what are you doing Yazoo?" Alexia asked when she noticed Yazoo wasn't going to break his gaze.

"Staring contest. Whoever wins gets this bag of chocolate covered Gaia berries." He answered, smirking at his younger brother.

…

…

"Why are you so odd?" Alathia sighed as they gave up and left with some fruit.

They stormed out of the house and down the trail towards the domes.

"We'll chit-chat with them during training." Alathia lulled as she munched on her apple.

"So, when was the last time you really talked with him about touchy feely stuff?" she asked Alexia as they kicked up the dirt trail next to the dome.

"Um…never…we just do our thing a bit, argue, battle, mock each other, threaten…yada yada…never heard 'I love you' during a threat or in combat. What about you?" Alexia asked, not expecting an answer back.

Alathia half grimaced half smiled as she and Alexia shrunk into the dome.

"Morning." Loz beamed. "I've been waiting for everyone to get here! Boy am I glad to see you two. Finally, someone to talk to!"

He was ignored.

The girls sat themselves in a cornier until Sephiroth strode in with the other two.

"Are you two done being ignorant?" he grumbled, shoving the two through the door.

"No I'm not done! I want that bag of candy!" Kadaj snapped kicking Yazoo in the back of the leg.

"Of course you do! That's why I want it so badly. Big brothers take things from smaller brothers." Yazoo hissed back, wielding Velvet Nightmare at Kadaj.

Souba met it with a clash and spark.

"ENOUGH! I will destroy both you fools AND your precious candy! In fact, " Sephiroth roared, snatching the bag from Yazoo's hip.

He then proceeded to stuff ALL the candies into his mouth, Yazoo and Kadaj grabbing at the bag helplessly.

The two girls watched in shame as Loz rolled on the floor laughing, Yazoo and Kadaj tried their best to get at least one piece, while Sephiroth stuffed every bit into his over filled mouth.

"Aw! Look at those chipmunk cheeks! HAHA!" Alexia laughed and clapped at the show.

"We're surrounded by ninnies." Alathia sighed, standing and brushing herself off.

They agreed that training would only start if they attacked the men, and ended their fight with each other. Therefore they withdrew their unbound weapons and attacked.

Loz rolled out of the way just in time as Alathia brought a blade down with tremendous force. He gained his posture just behind her and began charging the Dual Hound.

Just as he was about to strike Alathia in the back, she spun around and landed a rough kick to his cheek. A small grunt sounded his surprise, and he merely shook his head to clear it.

Alathia smiled playfully and darted off in Alexia's direction (which was now farther down the hall as she'd chosen to follow the candy fight)

Loz grinned with excitement. He loved a good chase.

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Tifa fiddled with a piece of her long hair as she contemplated telling the rest about Cloud's condition.

"Cloud called today…he, erm…says hello."

"What?" all of Avalanche, except for Vincent, snapped in disbelief.

"Yeah, he said he thinks the two…well you know, what Alexia and Alathia are, have made it to Gaia…so, he knows they're here." Tifa said as calmly as possible.

"How did he find out?" Vincent growled, folding his arms over his chest.

"I…I think Jenova's told him. I think she talks to him." She whispered, not wanting to go on.

Cloud sounded so deranged on the phone. He was talking to himself mostly, but didn't fail to mention a few key events. Out of him speaking with voices in his head, and trying his best to converse with Tifa, she got a few things down.

He'd fought two women, and described Alathia and Alexia perfectly. Cloud had visited the northern crater. Black waters covered it, and Sephiroths were peeking out from behind every rock. There was an army of them.

Tifa couldn't bring herself to tell them how insane he'd become. Cloud was their hero; their strong leader. Why had it become so easy for Jenova to take over? Did she feed off of his hatred and pain? He was sick and tying… and alone.

And worse: How were they going to defeat a whole army of the strongest subhuman ever? There were only a handful of them and thousands of him.

Tifa sighed and changed the subject as best as possible.

"So, how about we offer to help train the women today, just for a little bit?" she smiled weakly.

The rest agreed and the whole lot of them were on their way to the Petrified Forest.

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'Cloud, they're coming. Your friends are in peril…hehe. Those women and my sons are going to destroy every single one…right down to that precious child you care about so much…Marlene is it…haha, Yazoo's looking for her right now…its only a matter of time.'

"No! No, I won't let them! Hold on guys, I'm coming." Cloud shouted, grabbing his head desperately trying to stop the voice.

'Don't try to fight me boy. You're too weak. Give up now and go in peace…or I will make you live on and watch as I take everything you hold dear to you…and crush it in front of your eyes.'

"Stop! S-stop it! I won't let you win! I won't lose!" Cloud screamed, snatching up his sword and rushing out of the church.

He didn't even notice that he'd marched right through Aeris's flower patch, crushing a path of them. The church was silent and just as forgotten as before as Cloud sped off on his motorbike. A sigh could be heard from a familiar voice as no one saw the crushed flowers spring back into life.

"Cloud needs help. I can only pray that SOMETHING goes right." Aeris's annoyed voice echoed through the empty isles.

"Don't worry. Everything'll fix itself up; just you wait. Now, quit foolin' with those ridiculous flowers and help me dig a pit." Zack's equally as annoyed, but playful voice sounded through the air.

"Ug! Now why would I rather dig a pit than tend to the flowers that I loved while I was alive?"

"One: you're dead…give up on those flowers or I'll mash them myself (Aeris gasped). Two: the pit's for the healing water when they kill Jenova and set Planet free. Three: you love me! You always wanna help me out when I'm in need." Zack reasoned joyfully.

"Sometimes I wish I didn't know you." Aeris grumbled.

"That's harsh Aeris…harsh."


	28. Chapter 28

A/N Edit enjoy

Chapter 28 Cloud surprise cake!

Shing.

Sephiroth finally decided to swallow all that chocolate and combat with the girls. His sword glistened in the low light of the torches as he slowly pulled it out of its sheath. A smile curled its way onto his face as Sephiroth positioned himself to strike.

…

Alathia and Alexia froze mid-strike and stared at him with eyes as big as dinner plates. Kadaj and Yazoo, who were about to be attacked by the girls, smiled at each other and whispered, "They're gonna get it." in a singsong sort of fashion.

Sephiroth sighed and shook his head just before launching himself at the two frightened women.

"Neah!" Alathia yelped as she barely escaped a slash to her gut.

Alexia fired quickly as she did her best to dodge his blows. Alathia slashed back with one blade and met Mesamune with the other. Sparks flew as the blades clashed, sending Alathia hurtling in the opposite direction. To gain her composure once more, she dug both blades into the hard stone floor, and stopped her backwards hurtle.

Alexia and Sephiroth were combating now. Each and every time Seph made a cut at her body, the girl would twist over the blade, seemingly trying to wrap herself around it. Alexia had learned from Alathia's mistake and never once tried to block one of his blows with only one of her gunblades. Instead, she used both, and made sure to plant her feet hard into the ground.

"You're getting brave." Seph whispered approvingly as Alexia spun over the blade and blocked a slice to the back.

She was breathing hard and concentrating on the long sword positioned at her back.

"Not brave…just don't want to get cut." She sighed in between gasps for air.

"That's not true. You've been flipping over my sword for a good five minutes now." Seph chuckled, jabbing at her arm.

"Neah! I've been trying to flip AWAY from you, but for some reason you keep following me with that ridiculous sword!" Alexia hissed as she jumped back…right into Loz's arms.

"My dear, look how easily you've fallen for my trap…now I can cut you all I like." Seph smiled sadistically.

He stepped closer, eying her body for the best place to make a cut. Just as he was about to make his move, they heard a gunshot a little farther down the corridors.

"What the hell! Where were you hiding that thing?" Alathia growled as she dashed right past Sephiroth, Kadaj and Yazoo right on her tail.

"Let's watch…. then we'll come back to torturing you." Seph mused, glancing back at Alexia evilly.

She smiled back sheepishly and gulped.

"Neh, hold still so I can shoot you." Yazoo smiled slyly as he took aim at Alathia's back.

"The hell!" she snapped back, rushing behind a pillar just as he began to shoot.

The bullets bounced off, sparking each time they hit something. Alathia thought she'd be smart and attack from behind, but was surprised to see the two waiting for her.

Yazoo's Velvet Nightmare sounded and Alathia saw blood spatter to her left. Her upper arm oozed out warm blood, and she covered the fresh wound with her hand.

"Damnit." She hissed and ran again.

"You can't keep running." Kadaj growled, chasing after her and leaving Yazoo behind.

"Why not…you run every time I try to talk to you." Alathia snapped back, turning around…swords drawn.

"N-no I don't!"

"Y-yes you do." Alathia mocked back, flipping in the air and slashing at the very irritated boy.

"We talk all the time!"

"Then talk to me right now…Do you love me?" Alathia purred just loud enough so that Kadaj knew everyone could hear.

Sephiroth watched calmly as Kadaj began to fumble with his techniques. That was Kadaj and Yazoo's weakness…what others thought of them.

The general looked back at Alexia with a nonchalant smile, and turned to face her.

"Shall we finish?"

"…Oh for cryin-" Alexia sighed angrily and kicked Sephiroth as hard as she could in the gut.

He hunched over and suddenly remember that he'd downed a whole bag of candy…and was beginning to regret it.

"This is ridiculous! Training with you guys is nothing but a game of tag! That's all! At least with Avalanche they TRY to let us attack them! They let us fight back, they let us argue…That's one of the key elements to battle…unless you're the Great Sephiroth and slash people to bits before they even realize they're supposed to fight you." Alexia went off, struggling loose from Loz and knocking him in the nose.

"We're done…I want to fight Yazoo."

"Fine. Have it your way…you won't like the outcome though." Seph gulped, swallowing a bit of the candy that had come up.

Loz pinched his bloody nose and glared at the girl.

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"Hey, um, can we check to see if Cloud's at the church first Cid? I kind of want to talk to him in private." Tifa asked solemnly.

"Tifa don't you be getting' all sappy on me or I'll haveta shove you off the balcony, understand?" Cid groaned and headed the Sierra in the direction of Midgar.

"Hehe…yes sir. I just wanted to drag him back to 7th Heaven and beat some sense into him." She laughed back happily.

"'Atta girl."

"Oh yay we're stopping! Good…. I was about to upchuck again." Yuffie chimed in, looking at tad bit green.

"Man, you'd think ya'd be smart enough to take a pill by now. Why ya gotta make me all grossed out atcha?" Barret grumbled irritably.

The group fell silent as they neared the church

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"Are we done yet?"

"No Aeris."

"How about now?" Aeris whined again.

"You want me to mash those flowers?" Zack grumbled, tossing dirt out of the small hole.

"No."

"Then keep on diggin'…Geez, I've never met such a lazy dead girl!"

"But…:sighs: I think I broke a nail…and my dress is getting dirty." Aeris complained, tossing a small handful of dirt out of the hole.

Zack blinked at her angrily before floating out of the hole.

"Aeris, you're such a baby! Your nails are fine, you're using a garden shovel…and your dress never stays dirty! YOU'RE DEAD, THAT'S YOUR DEATH GOWN! IT CLEANS ITSELF ONCE YOUR DONE DOIN' WHATEVER!"

"Zack…that was mean! Meanie! Oh if I had my Princess staff right now I'd make sure to whack you with it." Aeris pouted angrily and got out of the hole herself.

":sighs: sorry…look, how about we take a break. You can go play with your flowers." Zack reasoned, smiling at the still pouting Aeris.

"Ok." She smiled, biting her bottom lip.

Just as she was about to sit in the middle of all the flowers, Tifa walked through the door.

"Hey look! Its…its that girl from Nibelheim!" Zack said happily, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hm…she's grown into a pretty girl hasn't she?"

"Zack, you're dead…and you're mine. Her name's Tifa and she likes Cloud anyway…so back off." Aeris pouted, sticking her tongue out at him.

Tifa looked around and sighed with disappointment when she knew Cloud wasn't there. She glanced at the hole in the corner and walked over to it curiously.

"Look, she's admiring our handy work." Zack laughed heartily.

"Um Zack, I don't think she…OH GET HER AWAY FROM IT! SHE'S GONNA FILL IT BACK UP!" Aeris snapped, rushing over to the hole.

Sure enough, Tifa had mistaken it as something a bunch of kids had done, and dumped most of the dirt back into the hole before the two spirits had gotten there.

"AH NO! DO SOMETHING! AERISH START THROWING FLOWERS AT HER!"

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"Tifa what happened! Did Cloud do that to you?" Red XIII perked up, staring at the bewildered woman.

Tifa had rushed back onto the airship with dirty hands, flowers mashed into her long hair, and panic looming in her eyes.

"The…the flowers they just…L-let's go. We'll come back when Cloud's here." Tifa mumbled, and walked off to clean up.

The rest of Avalanche just stared at each other as Cid headed off towards Bone Village.

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"Ug now we have to start all over again! And my beautiful flowers are ruined." Aeris began to sob.

"No no, its fine. Look, how bout this…you clean up your flowers and I'll dig the hole myself. And when I'm finished, you can make it look pretty by planting a few around it." Zack panicked, trying to get her to stop crying.

":sniffles: ok…"

Aeris walked off and began fiddling with the flowers once more, while Zack secretly imagined stomping on them all.

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Sephiroth and Loz sat and watched as Yazoo & Alexia, and Kadaj & Alathia battled like maniacs.

Not only were they trying to kill one another, but also they were arguing aloud about their relationships.

Avalanche was almost to the dome.

"Why do you always want to talk about feelings?" Yazoo hissed clashing gunblades with Alexia.

"Why DON'T you?" she retorted.

Yazoo ignored her and began swinging madly with the gun at her head. Finally after a moment he'd hit his mark (her cheek) and knocked her to the ground.

"You have no feelings…the only thing you feel is pleasure." She growled, holding back angry tears.

Yazoo didn't retort, move, or even look at her…. Those words cut deeper than any sword could.

"If you really feel that way…then maybe we shouldn't be together."

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Alathia and Kadaj started watching the very second Yazoo had hit her.

"Do you feel that way as well?" Kadaj asked solemnly, not looking at her.

"Yes, I'm…I'm sure there's someone out there that'll show me they care instead of making me beg for it." Alathia stammered, not really wanting to end up like Alexia.

"Then…lets not keep this up… If I make you miserable then there's no point in this."

"Maybe if you were a little more mature it'd be ok, but NO! You have to make everything difficult!" Alathia shouted back, still waiting for him to look at her.

BOOM!

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared in the direction of the gunfire.

Vincent stood in front of the rest of Avalanche; gun pointed upwards and still smoking.

"Now children…play nicely." He smirked, lowering the still smoking gun to his side.

Tifa ignored their dramatic entrance and stepped over to Seph politely.

"Hey, um…. we were wondering if we could train the girls today…that is if you don't mind."

"Sure, we weren't getting anywhere with them anyway. Bring them home when you're finished." Sephiroth sighed.

The girls glared at the men, feeling quite dejected and slunk over to Avalanche.

They left silently, without a goodbye.

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Kadaj paced the kitchen floor angrily as Yazoo watched from a stool.

"I…Nrrr! Do…:sighs: its not easy to talk about feelings ya know!" he growled angrily.

"I know." Yazoo said coolly.  
"How do they expect us to do it when we've never done it before!"

"I don't know. They are from another world…Maybe the men over there are sappy." Yazoo sighed, resting his cheek on his hand.

"Is that what they want? I mean, I'll do anything to keep her." Kadaj groaned, having a seat across from his brother.

"They want more. They want what they had on the mainland…not some robots stuck in a hole…"

"Come with me brother. We'll…talk to them." Kadaj gulped before saying his last sentence.

"We will show them our real emotion."

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"W-what's that…Is that Yazoo and Kadaj?" Alathia gasped.

…

The rest of Avalanche took a hint and shuffled into 7th Heaven.

"Why are you here?" Alexia growled angrily as the two strode over to the women.

Both men were on their knees the instant they were in front of their woman.

"Forgive me please. I don't understand emotions…or love…I don't know what I'm supposed to do, or when I'm supposed to do it. Give me another shot. I'll try this time." Kadaj's voice wavered.

…Boy he hated this stupid sappy stuff…  
When he was finished here he'd have to go break some things and make a REALLY big mess.

"If you teach me…I promise to do it right. Tell me what I'm doing wrong and I'll fix it." Yazoo whispered, sniffling lightly.

"…YAAAAAAAAAAY!" both girls screamed happily, hugging their guy.

"Way to ruin it loves." Yazoo laughed happily, hugging her back.

"Shut up. I don't wanna hear it." Alathia said before Kadaj could add to his brother's comment.

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After everyone had calmed down, they stood up and brushed themselves off.

"Now what?" the men asked…not quite knowing what to do with themselves.

"How 'bout we finish training with Avalanche, and you two can watch." Alexia reasoned and lead the way towards 7th Heaven.

Suddenly…Cloud swooped out from behind a tree and charged her.

"Alexia look out!" Yazoo screamed just as Cloud reached her.

She gasped and bent backwards as far as her spine allowed, avoiding his slash. It was such a surprise; Alexia lost her balance and landed right on her bum. She shook her head dizzily and looked up at Cloud. Just as he was about to bring the blade down on her skull, Yazoo blocked the blow, sending sparks flying off the metal weapons.

Alexia scurried out of the way and watched as the two circled each other, weapons still locked.

"Kadaj get them out of here! Hurry!" Yazoo yelled, still staring right into Cloud's deep blue eyes.

"But…" Alexia tried to argue.

"DON'T ARGUE WITH ME WOMAN, JUST GO!"

"Ok…" she sighed as Kadaj grabbed her wrist and yanked both towards the motorbikes.

Just as they sat down on the seats, Alexia looked back one last time.

…Bad timing…

Cloud kicked Yazoo in the leg, catching him off guard. As soon as his eyes were off of him, Cloud jammed the Buster sword through his side. Yazoo's jaw fell open and blood oozed out. In fact, blood was seeping out of his new wound and dripping down towards the handle of the hilt.

"I won't let you take Marlene from us." Cloud hissed and twisted the sword in its place.

Yazoo screamed in agony, falling to his knees. He gasped for air but choked on blood, hunching over to catch his breath.

"No!" Alexia screamed, watching as Cloud kicked Yazoo off the blade.

He rolled over and shuddered as the pain rushed through his body…and looked up half-heartedly at his enemy. Yazoo cupped his wound and gritted his teeth when he saw how much blood was coming out. Cloud grunted with approval and raised his sword once more to end it.

Alexia freed herself from Kadaj's grip (and by freed I mean she bit him as hard as she could and took off running before he could grab her once more) and ran towards Cloud screaming.

"Quake 3!" she heard Alathia scream just before Kadaj sped off…

He was confident that Alexia would get his brother out of there.

"Cure 3!" Alexia whispered to Yazoo, as rocks were still pummeling Cloud.

The wound healed only to the point where it wasn't fatal.

"C'mon Yaz, we gotta get you out of here." She whispered softly and helped him over to the bike.

He clung to her back as they rushed off…Cloud not far behind.

The ride was a blur (because I'm not writing about it :sticks tongue out:), and Kadaj & Alathia were waiting for them at the prayer room.

Kadaj helped Alexia carry the very injured Yazoo down to the boats, while Alathia steadied it.

Kadaj held his upper body, stroking Yazoo's hair and trying everything to keep him talking.

Alexia removed his jacket to better look at the gash… It was pretty bad. As soon as the boat slammed ashore, Alathia rushed off to the house to get Sephiroth.

"C'mon big brother…keep talking to me. We're almost home. Seph's on his way now, ok?" Kadaj purred, moving the silver hair out of his brother's face.

"I…I'll be fine Kadaj…don't worry. Alexia are you alright?" Yazoo stammered, trying his best to hide the pain.

"Yes, I'm fine. Look Yazoo, Seph's here."

"…Yazoo what have you gotten yourself into?" Seph chuckled, picking up his little brother.

Loz and Alathia rushed down and the two watched eagerly as Seph strode off towards the house with Yazoo.

"Will he be ok?" Alathia asked weakly.

"He'll be fine love. C'mon, let's go get cleaned up." Kadaj smiled.

Alathia sighed and obeyed, leaving Loz to take the boat back, and Alexia to wait for him. They reached the house and cleaned blood off of their hands.

"Hehe…now I know how you felt." Kadaj sighed, slumping down next to Alathia in the living room couch.

"Yeah-no…I was ready to go into hysterics…Say, do you hear something dragging?"

"Yeah…oh my-" Kadaj trailed off as they stared towards the door.

Cloud was dragging both Loz and Alexia towards the house…up the front stairs…into the house. Both were semiconscious, bloody, bruised, and beaten.

Kadaj and Alathia gaped at him as he discarded their limp bodies as if they were lifeless. Loz grunted when he hit the ground, and Alexia moaned when she landed on top of him. She slid down his side until she hit the ground with a soft THUD.

Cloud smirked at the two, kicking them slightly, and snapped his gaze to the two horrified figures by the couch.

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"There you go Yazoo…all fixed up. You can rest now." Sephiroth said comfortingly.

He'd heard nothing so far. Yazoo smiled back weakly and pulled the bed covers over his bare frame.


	29. Chapter 29

A/N- Edited. Enjoy

Chapter 29 It Begins.

"S…something feels wrong. There's something very wrong." Yazoo shuddered, burying himself deeper into the covers.

CRASH!

Sephiroth and Yazoo heard weaponry clashing together, glass busting, and furniture breaking. Seph didn't move though… he wanted to keep Yazoo safe.

Yazoo yelped as the sounds got closer and closer, and moaned from far beneath the covers when they stopped all together. Sephiroth turned towards the door and watched as it slowly creaked open.

"I-is it him?" Yazoo choked, now sobbing slightly.

He'd never been so afraid in his life.

Sephiroth's eyes widened in horror as Cloud chucked little Kadaj at his feet.

"…We finally meet again." Cloud hissed, leaning out of the way to show Sephiroth the damage.

The silver haired man bent down slowly and picked up Kadaj.

He placed him in the bed with Yazoo and waited until Yazoo took him under the covers with him.

Seph then slowly walked out the door…where Cloud was waiting.

Furniture lay smashed and burning everywhere.

Loz and Alexia were lying peacefully unconscious near the front door.

And Alathia lay curled in a ball on the floor…bleeding from multiple injuries.

Everything they'd worked so hard to get was ruined.

The two ancient girls lay in a bloody pile, their only real home was almost completely destroyed…and his brothers…the only people he truly loved and felt understood him, were now crumpled over in a bloody mess.

Sephiroth dropped to his knees, too upset to do anything.

If he fought Cloud, they'd all bleed to death. But then again, if he left, he could only take a few.

If he let Cloud win… all would be lost. The Planet would be doomed.

Sephiroth was stuck in making the decision to save his only family, destroy his worst enemy, or save the planet that had forsaken him and let his loved ones die.

Tears welled in his eyes, and for the first time since he was a small child…

He cried.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N- Edited. Enjoy

Ch 30: Destroy she said.

Cloud watched as his worst enemy was reduced to painful tears. He hid his curiosity well through an unblinking stare.

"What's wrong Sephiroth? Something the matter?" he growled, pressing the abnormally large sword into Sephiroth's neck.

The silver haired man didn't respond; he tilted his head away to keep the blade from puncturing the skin.

Tears still fell down his think cheek as he looked away defeated. Cloud smirked sadistically and tilted Sephiroth's chin towards him. The two locked eyes for a moment before he spoke once more.

"I just wanted to see the beautifully pained look in your eyes before you die. Take a look around you! Everything you love and care for is gone… now you know how it feels." He laughed evilly, raising the sword from the angel's throat.

Sephiroth's chin sank into his chest as he awaited the end. He watched Cloud's shadow dance in the firelight as the blonde raised his sword.

Just as Cloud started making a downward cut at Seph, another shadow appeared…two shadows.

Sephiroth snapped his head up to see Cloud fly across the room.

"…A-alathia? W-what, you two…"

"Shhh." Alathia hissed, blood dribbling down her chin.

Alexia stood at her side, holding a rather large gash in her stomach.

The two looked about ready to pass out or die…whichever came first. They snapped around quickly, and stared at the heaping figure of Cloud. It was almost as if all three weren't aware of their pain.

The women stood firm and emotionless, back to Sephiroth, awaiting Cloud's recovery.

Cloud did eventually pull himself out of the pile of splintered furniture and petrified wood.

In fact, when he stood, the women backed off slightly at his hideous figure. A piece of rock solid wood had managed to lodge itself into Cloud's thigh and bicep. Almost robotically, the blond yanked the splintered rock wood from his body and tossed it aside.

"Humph." he grunted just before rushing at the women.

It was all in slow motion. Just before the angry warrior had reached them, they'd fallen on their knees, screaming. Every muscle in their body tensed as the transformation began to take place.

Sephiroth watched as bright light surrounded the two frail forms. The light engulfed the whole room, and Cloud faltered.

When the brilliant light had vanished, fires were extinguished, Loz had regained consciousness, and Cloud was poised for battle…. with a frightened look on his face.

The women…weren't women.

Alathia stood ten foot tall, with light green skin, dark green hair that passed her knees, and her leather combat outfit was torn to shreds by her gigantic form.

The creature he saw seemed harmless…except when you looked in her eyes.

Black slashes and markings ran along her long cheekbones and the creature's eyes glowed dangerously in the darkness. Nothing could describe how fierce the look on her face was. That was what scared Cloud the most.

Green blood still dripped from her smaller wounds, as well as black Geostigma from the diseased areas. Alexia stood eight foot tall with glowing blood red skin, and bright fiery hair.

These two creatures were gorgeous from a distance, with their bright colors, and glowing aura. But once up close, they were frightening. The hair was immovable, their skin looked almost ready to tear off the bone, and their eyes told the viewer how cruel these beasts could be. One look into their eyes would make anyone either sick to their stomach with fear, or send chills through their whole body.

Ignoring the mixture of blood and Geostigma, the two rushed at the surprised Cloud. In one swift movement, Cloud's sword had been crumpled into a small metal ball, and he was thrown clear out of the house (taking out a wall on his way out).

As if triggered by Cloud's sudden defeat, Geostigma began pouring out of every opening in their body. Their screams were muffled by the black goo oozing from their noses, mouths, and punctures to the skin. The two figures crumpled to the ground and writhed in pain until they changed back to human form.

"Ung…how come I remember that…" Alathia grumbled, spitting the foul tasting diseased liquid out of her mouth.

"This stuff tastes like sh… hey :coughs: w-why's the notebook down here?" Alexia asked, swallowing hard so she didn't upchuck.

No, she wasn't hallucinating… The notebook, Red Dream (as it so curiously named itself), was fluttering in the wind… even if there wasn't any. The pages flapped and fluttered angrily as the two girls stared at it. Just when they were about to go take a peak at the thing.

…

…

SEPHIROTH RUSHED OVER AND TORE IT TO SHREDS!

" What the fuck! I was gonna keep that!" Alexia retorted angrily, watching him start to chew on some of the paper.

"Help me destroy it! Hurry!" he screamed, ignoring how angry the two were.

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"Cloud's motorbike…is that smoke!" Yuffie screeched as she and the rest of Avalanche were calmly walking down the trail to the house.

Seeing his motorbike in the forest… and smoke coming from the house at the same time, they put two and two together and took off running.

Yuffie's heart pounded against her sternum as she took off sprinting for the smoking house. She broke into a cold sweat and felt a chill run down her spine. Yuffie was ahead of them all… even Tifa.

"Loz! Loz please be ok…" she screamed, rushing into the house and ignoring the pile of rubble with some legs sticking out of it.

As soon as she was in the door, Yuffie saw Loz sitting up, rubbing his head. She squealed with joy and ran over to squeeze him… ignoring the three crazies in the background tearing the notebook to shreds.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Are you ok! Are you hurt! What happened!" she screeched, rubbing his face, grabbing his limbs, checking his eyes, etc.

"I-I'm fine. Cloud's here." Was all he said.

First of all… she'd gathered from her close examination he was ok. Second, she already knew Cloud was there! Before she had the chance to yell out anything, a flash of silver caught the young girl's eyes, and she looked over to the three crazies.

Sephiroth's hair was everywhere… along with chewed up paper.

"What are you doing?" she asked, giving them all a confused look.

Why were they chewing up paper and trashing a notebook instead of fighting Cloud? And why were the women half naked?

"Its Jenova! She's the one that made this notebook! Kill it! Kill it!" Seph roared before taking a mouthful of paper.

Things were finally beginning to register in the general's mind.

Yuffie was the only exception to the barrier's protection… because she wasn't an enemy.

Everything else was blocked out until they started getting closer to the women while spying on them (which was only after Alexia had found the spar notebook)…

After getting close only once, an enemy had chased Kadaj up a tree.

An enemy with Mako eyes… one of the clones. After the girls had come, hauling the demon book with them, the barrier began to disappear… and more enemies were able to get in.

The notebook was the one that knew Kadaj was going to get cut… and sent Alathia there to perish instead… she was the more valuable one, not her own son. The notebook wasn't supposed to know that… It was only supposed to know what the girls were doing.

That little, tiny, insignificant, paper notebook was the one thing that broke the barrier and ruined everything.

It still hadn't dawned on the women, even after Seph had said it was Jenova…but they weren't about to disobey him while he was acting THAT frantic.

Yuffie watched a bit more, stroking Loz's hair, and waiting for the others to join… they never even came in.

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The petrified wood rolled to the ground as the final bits finally settled in. Cloud was still underneath all the rubble (legs sticking out).

The rest of Avalanche was about to rush in and catch up with Yuffie, when Red XIII spotted something.

"I think I see feet there." He growled.

The others stared on, waiting for the dust from the rubble to finally settle. When it did, low and behold, a pair of combat boots protruded from the stony wood.

His comrades rushed up only for Cloud to pull himself out.

"Oh Cloud, are you alright!" Tifa gasped, seeing how bloodied and battered her friend (maybe more, we'll see) was.

"I'm fine… S-stay away… Don't touch me. I don't want to see you right now." He grumbled in response.

… That was it. They'd had enough.

"Foo! Who da hell you think you are… tellin' us to stay away… Nigga you hurt!" Barret blurted out, not trying in the slightest to hide his anger.

The rest joined in with, "Yeah!" and "Right!" and "What's gotten into you!"

They glared, insulted, yelled, and vented their frustration with him.

He heard none of it. Cloud was in a world of pain, and was focusing most of his/Jenova's energy on standing up. He gripped his side, where a puncture had caused a mixture of Geostigma and warm blood to spill out.

Jenova tried to make Cloud walk past them, tried to ignore them, tried everything to stop Cloud from feeling emotions towards them… and trying her best to keep him from falling out of her control.

It was too hard; Cloud was so weak. As soon as Tifa reached out and grabbed the young man's hand, Jenova made him scream with her own frustration.

She'd just lost her last human puppet.

Violet light surrounded Cloud's battered form, and a silver haired figure emerged, like a ghost, from his body. Avalanche watched as Jenova disappeared, leaving the injured Cloud to fight for himself.

Yuffie and the others watched as Cloud's crumpled sword shattered into a billion pieces, and black liquid seeped into the ground.

…

Being normal human beings (or whatever), no one was sure if they were all out of danger until Cloud asked the typical "Where am I?"

Tifa and the others helped Cloud stand on his feet, and tried their best to heal him with potions and healing materia. It worked quite a bit, but not fully because of the Geostigma.

"Do you remember anything?" Vincent asked curiously, examining Cloud's eyes.

"I remember… walking down a trail. Mmmm, I remember fighting… the lilyous… Blood… MARLENE! Is Marlene OK!" Cloud gasped, jumping up as best he could.

"Yeah, she's with the orphans. Shera's babysitting right now. Is something supposed to be wrong with her? I mean I know Shera's not the best of sitters, but she can make sure they don't kill themselves!" Cid responded, stuffing a cig into his mouth.

Cloud shook his head wearily. Deep down he knew Marlene was never in danger. Unsteadily, the man stood once more and smiled at his friends.

"I'm sorry for everything. I was so caught up in my own sickness and sorrow for our fallen friends that Jenova easily overtook me." Cloud said through gritting teeth.

He hated being so emotastic.

Cloud wobbled forward, as if leading a charge, and simply said, "We have to find all of them and make sure they're still alive. I… remember a lot of blood, so that can't be too good."

They walked behind cautiously; more worried about him than the condition of the others, and scanned the front yard for anyone.

When no bloodied or battered body appeared, or made itself known, the group wandered inside the smashed entrance.

Rubble from the fights, smoking furniture, and writing paper littered the floor as Avalanche made their way into the front door. For a moment, Sephiroth and Cloud glared at each other, neither wanting to speak.

"It's been two years since I last saw you." Cloud finally sighed, trying to slightly ease the tension.

"You just tried to slice me to bits a few minutes ago… :sighs heavily:. Other than that… I don't really know what you're talking about. I don't remember much past Nibelheim…" Seph answered back, picking pieces of paper from his hair.

"Really… so you don't know why I hate your guts?"

"Well, I know a lot from what Yuffie told me, and from what my brothers had informed me of. And like your memory, mine only remembers small fractions. In fact, the last memory I have of you is you Omnislashing me. That's about it."

"Well, heh, that's a wonderful memory to leave off at," Cloud murmured, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

After an awkward moment between the two, Cloud decided to go grab the other two silver haireds and ride the airship… and to talk about everything.

When the door creaked open, Cloud watched the two forms huddle together under the covers. Slowly, he walked over and removed the covers from the two frightened men. They clenched their teeth and eyes shut, and huddled closer together as if to protect one another.

"I-its ok. I'm normal now… I think." Cloud tried his best to comfort them.

He wasn't very good at it.

Kadaj braved a peak at Cloud and shuddered at the sight of him. He pulled Yazoo's pale frame closer into him and growled, "stay away from my brother. You've caused him enough damage."

Cloud rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I'm not here to fight! I'm here to get your asses outta bed and out of here! Get up!"

"No!"

"Why!"

"Because you're crazy! There ain't no way we're chillin' with you!"

"Mmm what if I told you you'd be the only two." Cloud reasoned lazily.

"K-Kadaj let's just go…" Yazoo whimpered.

His wounds hadn't healed all that much.

Kadaj grumbled but obeyed. Gently, he wrapped his brother in a blanket and followed Cloud out to the others. Reluctantly, Kadaj released his brother into Sephiroth's arms, and slunk over to Alathia.

Alathia looked him over and smiled weakly. Geostigma was making her insides churn and made her feel slightly ill. As soon as Kadaj opened his mouth to ask if she was ok… he got an answer.

Alathia slumped over on him and groaned an, "I think I'm going to throw up…" Kadaj's eyes widened, and he rushed her out of the house.

"Please don't throw up on me, please don't throw up on me, please don't throw up on me." He whispered, carrying her over to some trees. As gently as possible, Kadaj set her down and leaned her over… waiting for the sound of splashing liquid to hit the ground.

He only waited a short moment before Alathia started gagging, and vomit splattered on the bare dirt. Kadaj rubbed her back comfortingly and urged his companion to keep going until there was nothing left.

"C'mon Alathia, keep goin'. You'll feel better when it's all gone… Keep going hon."

"Hugurg, but I don't wanna throw up! It hurts!" she whimpered, holding it back.

"I know, I know, but get it all out of you…can't have Alathia upchucking all over Sephiroth or the great Kadaj now can we… And you're throwing up some of the disease… Please keep going."

Alathia looked up at him with sad green eyes just before she threw up the last little bit…

This wasn't his place… The great warrior and brother of Sephiroth shouldn't be trying to comfort some girl he barely could hold a conversation with. The great Kadaj shouldn't be lovingly coaxing someone to throw up… She didn't belong in his arms… She didn't belong with him, and made a promise to herself that she'd be gone… as soon as their problems were solved.

Alexia was throwing up too, alone, in a toilet. She felt the same way.

Alexia felt she didn't belong there anymore, and wanted to return to her loved ones.  
She'd serve her purpose there… and then return home when it was all finished.

"I want to go home." She whispered to herself, crying and trying her best NOT to upchuck.

Everyone regrouped moments later and marched down the path towards the airship.

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The cool night air whipped hair around their faces as they sat on the balcony of the airship. Dried tears cooled the girls' cheeks as they sat there staring out into the blackness of the night sky.

"So, you do think its right for us to go…home?" Alexia asked, holding back more tears.

Neither liked the idea of leaving the men behind, but they felt they had to.

Alathia didn't respond for a moment. Her eyes were glazed over with pain from the sickness.

"We don't belong." She murmured, after thinking it over.

The two didn't say another word for a long while, but silently decided that the balcony was a good place to sleep.

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"Why does she want you dead?" Cloud asked with a sigh.

After not being able to find the girls, Avalanche gave up and decided to carry out the meeting without them. Avalanche and Cloud sat on one side of the meeting room, and the silver haired warriors sat on the other.

Sephiroth sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose. Talking a lot wasn't something he enjoyed.

"We defied Jenova, and used her own plans against her. My brothers were well hidden from you during our fight two years ago. If I failed to defeat you, she had a back up plan. While I was so close to destroying the entire world, she'd have them find the only two Lilyous and get them on our side. They found them… only problem was that the girls were on the mainland.

My brothers prayed that I'd finish… that I'd actually bring Meteor to earth. We all hoped that when Meteor came we'd be able to go to the promise land… just as she promised…

When they found out about my defeat, they were devastated. Jenova eventually came to them… in visions, dreams, and finally as a head. She grumbled things about how SHE was going and her worthless children would never see the promise land… that she was only using us all to get there herself so she could destroy this miserable planet.

As angry as they were, these boys kept their cool and asked if there was any way to bring me back.

She answered… They asked if she could show them if those two girls were the Lilyous… she provided the notebook… after all was done, they destroyed the head, and we came up with the plan to use the Lilyous against her… just as she used our own bodies against our will. Being a puppet and being destroyed for something that she made me do isn't exactly a wonderful gift to give your child… and I was angry about it. We dared to defy her and try to keep the planet safe from her and her evil ways… Unfortunately… she wasn't quite dead yet." He mumbled and tapped his diseased hands… referring to the Geostigma.

"Why'd she choose a notebook?" Yuffie asked, wiping a tear from her eyes.

Loz was now stricken with the disease. No one dared look her in the eye as she sat rigid in her seat.

Not even Loz could comfort her now.

Kadaj answered.

"Those two love to write. Writing takes them out of reality and into their own little dream world… Why not give them a gift of a magical notebook. A notebook that not only writes the story for them, but takes them to that dream world… Had we let the notebook use its full power, those two men would have come to our world through that notebook… and have been forced to do everything she wanted them to."

"The world would have been hers for the taking." Sephiroth added.

Yazoo was fast asleep in his arms. His soft hair covered his face as he peacefully slumbered against his older brother's chest.

Kadaj was scowling at Cloud hardcore. Cloud noticed and decided to confront the young man.

"What's your problem!"

"You! You did this to us… Had you left us alone or at least listened to our side of the story, things wouldn't be this complicated! Now, not only did she manage to disease us and is now slowly killing us and our only two hopes of living a normal life free from being puppets, but now our only real home is trashed, and she's got a freakin army of Sephiroths! All cause you couldn't leave us be and let us live above ground and fight her off!" Kadaj snapped back, rising to his feet in anger.

"You're dangerous! Even with a clear mind I didn't want you around people! Who knew if you'd go crazy again, especially with Sephiroth around!" Cloud shot back in defense, raising himself from his seat, only to be yanked back down by Tifa.

She shot Kadaj a warning look, and slowly rose to her own feet.

"I think we're all tired… C'mon… Let's all get some rest, we'll finish this another time."

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Alathia and Alexia watched through the darkened window as the argument broke out.

"Hm… Can't say I'll be glad to leave this all behind… I'll miss all the funny things they do" Alathia murmured, on the verge of tears again.

"Alathia, think about the others. Think of how they'd act if they were in our position. They'd be doing everything and anything they could to get home to us… and here we are, falling in love with strangers!" Alexia growled, pulling her hair in a bun.

"I don't really think its them we've fallen in love with… I think it's the adventures that come with them. In our world we had no control. There was nothing interesting. When we were brought here, anything was possible. We could do what we wanted, and have what we wanted." Alathia sighed back, slumping down.

She and Alexia wrapped themselves in blankets and slept under the stars.


	31. Chapter 31

A/N-And this chapter is when Andy dumped me haha… Oh he used to hate that I wrote this story. How ironic I finished it after we broke up. Little boys are so dumb. I'm glad I have a real man now. Edited. Enjoy

Ch 31 Part 1

"We need to schedule a meeting... Well, Cloud's making us go to the Chocobo Races to race our birds... Why do you need to know, it's none of your business. All you need to know is where to meet us." Alexia grumbled.

She didn't particularly like dealing with such a shady character... but he was their only way home.

"Alright, by the Chocobo stables... ok, see you there."

Alexia slowly set the phone down and leaned back. The women had been staying at Seventh Heaven until the men fixed up Sephiroth & Co's living room.

Alathia was snuggled under the blanket, drifting in and out of consciousness.

Yes, the disease was making them too ill. During training, Cloud had managed to teach them to control their transformation. But they never lasted very long. The sickness actually managed to hold transformations to the Lilyous for only five minutes, and got training sessions down to a half hour.

Geostigma was a pain in the ass, for the author of this freakin story, and for everyone else. They were all getting weaker and weaker, the harder they trained...

Sephiroth was beginning to doubt that they could actually defeat Jenova in her ultimate form.

It'd only been three weeks since the house was slightly crisped, and since Cloud had gained control of his body once more.

And yes, the girls were still planning on leaving. As soon as they'd set foot in seventh heaven, they had been meeting people and making phone calls... trying to find anyway to get back home. It was so simple to get a hold of all the people, mostly because the men were staying at Cosmo Canyon.

Tifa didn't want all the orphans to go ballistic about "the evil Sephiroth and his minions" living with them, nor did she want Kadaj starting a battle with them... So Red offered to keep them in his observatory.

Kadaj and Yazoo were trying their hardest to make up for their past... they'd waste their time killing monsters, and getting gil so they could buy them presents. Anytime they had a moment to visit them, those two showered Alathia and Alexia with gifts... which made it harder for them to think and make plans for leaving. Whether they knew it or not... The girls were quite attached to those men.

Alexia began drifting into her own dream worked, when Cloud's booming voice rang up the stairs.

"Alathia, Alexia, C'mon we're leaving soon. Get up and get ready!"

"Its nine in the morning!" Alexia shot back angrily.

She received no reply.

Alathia moaned, and slowly rose from the covers. Her pale face looked even worse with her bright green eyes.

"I hate the Chocobo races! It smells like Choco-Crap! And Yazoo and Kadaj pick out the most awful Chocobos to race! UNG!" she complained bitterly.

Alexia sighed in agreement, and the two shuffled to the bathrooms to get cleaned up.

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"Uh oh..."

"What?"

"I have to go... I gotta get to Sephiroth's" Aeris grumbled.

"W-why! We aren't even done with the hole yet!" Zack argued.

"Tsh. like I wan to finish it! You know how much I HATE being in water form! I hate it as much as you hate being a wolf! But I'm willing to sacrifice my happiness for my friends safety and well-being."

"You don't get fleas! Its easy for you to go into water form cause you have nothing there to annoy you! Don't go until we're at least half way finished with this stinking hole! I don't want to do it by myself!" Zack cried out, desperate to keep her there with him.

It was too late. Aeris had made up her mind, and was now a puddle of slivery liquid seeping into the floorboards.

Just out of spite, Zack stomped on the remaining liquid and went back to digging the hole.

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"Ung! Just a little bit more to clean up... then are Alathia and Alexia gonna move back in with us?" Kadaj sighed, tossing out a burnt couch.

"That's for them to decide... But they can if they want to." Sephiroth sighed, trying his best to patch up the blown out wall. The reason it was taking them so long: Seph & Co have a thing for perfection... if any little fiber of wood were out of place... they'd have to either fix it, or remove everything and start all over again.

As soon as Kadaj had tossed the crisped couch out the door, Yazoo gracefully strode in.

"They're here to get the birds..."

Kadaj and Yazoo did a little dance...

Minutes later, Loz and Yuffie came strolling in with the whole crew, Alathia and Alexia included. Cloud walked over to Sephiroth and held a serious conversation...

Everyone rolled their eyes... leave it to them to be all business.

Alathia and Alexia attempted to make way to their rooms, but were stopped by their men.

"C'mon! You can't go to your room yet! Ya gotta ride the birds first. Remember Alathia, you asked me to get you a chocobo before we even started training... So heh, I got you a bunch!" Kadaj beamed, dragging her off to his dome.

Dust floated around their black boots as the four shuffled down the long trail. Alathia smirked, remembering how she'd playfully lured Kadaj into the forest; half attempted to seduce him, and then, socked him in the stomach.

A sigh escaped from Kadaj's lips, snapping her back to reality. He was staring ahead, off in a dream world. She smiled slightly, letting a soft chuckle come out and grabbed his hand.

Slowly, Kadaj turned his head and smiled shyly at her, feline eyes cutting into her mind.

"Why do I feel this way about him? I know I don't like him. But every time he looks at me like that... No, I can't do this. If I want to go home, no more love. I don't love him," she thought, releasing his hand and folding her arms in front of her.

"S-so what kind of chocobo is it this time?" she stammered, acting as if nothing were wrong.

"Oh...um... I-its a black one. B Class, just needs to win a race before it can be S Class. If you don't mind... I'd like to use that Zeio nut that you stole on your first night in Gaia... after you get these two birds in S Class, Yazoo and I can breed them and get the gold Chocobo." Kadaj smiled meekly a little taken aback by her recent coldness towards him.

"How do you know the Knights of the Round will be at the cave when you get there... I mean, people breed Chocobos all the time. Someone could have easily gotten a gold bird and found the cave. It only regenerates once a year " Alathia huffed, kicking a rock before entering Kadaj's dome.

"Heh, true. People do breed Chocobos all the time... but the only two people who know how to breed until you get a gold one is Cloud and the Chocobo Master... we tried asking Cloud. He didn't remember the steps in order... so we had to go to the Chocobo master himself...:growls:" Kadaj mumbled, shutting the door behind him.

Alathia's head snapped up at the burning anger in his voice. Kadaj didn't continue his story right away. Instead, the sliver haired boy led her farther into his dark dome until they stopped at a makeshift stable.

A bold, glossy black bird ruffled its feathers at the sight of its visitors and "warked" loudly when Kadaj went to pet its beak.

Alathia's stomach churned when she saw how wild the bird still was... This was no going to be an easy ride. She smiled softly, sitting on the ground and watching Kadaj coo, click, purr, rub, struggle, get pecked, scratched, and beaten up by the fierce Chocobo. Finally, after feeding the damn thing a pound of the most expensive greens you could buy, the man emerged from the stall with a very content bird on a rope.

"Mmmm, I wanna hear the rest of the story before I ride that beast…" Alathia sighed, stretching out her long limbs.

"You are a beast…"

"Hm?" Alathia cooed, vaguely remembering their first boat ride where he'd called her 'crotch grabber' and then 'beast'.

"N-nothing… anyway."

-FLASHBACK-

"Hello, are you the Chocobo master?" Yazoo asked as they walked up to the old man.

He didn't respond.

Kadaj was growing even more impatient by the second and decided he'd butt in.

"Hey! Didn't you hear him! Don't just ignore us, we didn't come up all this way for nothing!"

"Hm, oh hello! Who are you? AND WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE? AH! ROBBERS! HELP HELP!" the chococbo master screeched running around the house with his arms in the air.

There was nothing really in the house to steal. Were they supposed to steal his ancient couch? Or possibly his rickety old dining room set? Imagine those three, making off with a couch 10X older than any of them, and a dining room table.  
"Seph said we have to be extremely patient with him. He doesn't have contact with very many humans… so he's a bit ignorant." Yazoo sighed, sitting in one of the rickety old chairs.

Kadaj and Loz sighed and sat in a chair themselves… they waited about a half hour until the guy finally realized they weren't making off with any of his furniture.

"We're here to ask a favor. Please tell me you're the Chocobo master." Yazoo asked desperately.

"If this is the wrong house… I will have no trouble burning it to the ground. This man erks me." Kadaj mumbled to Loz, who chuckled slightly.

The chocobo master blinked at them stupidly and sat in a chair with them.

"Kids these days! Just come barging' in, expectin' me to help them! What if I didn't have time!" the master pouted.

"Sir, you have plenty of time to help us… your door was wide open and the mat in front said, 'C'mon in.', and there's a blizzard outside… So even if you wanted to leave… you couldn't" Loz grumbled, itching to start charging his dual hound and slap him with it.

"Oh yeah! Watch me!" the Chocobo master shouted, rushing out the door.

All three men gasped and jumped up to stop him… but believe it or not, he was too quick for them.

After about a half hour of scanning the endless white plains of NOTHINGNESS during the worst blizzard in fifty years, they found the great Chocobo master… frozen and laying face down in the snow.

"Argh, what use is he to us dead! Hurry we gotta take him back and revive him!" Kadaj screamed, grabbing the old man by the beard and DRAGGING him all the way back to his small cottage.

Loz boiled some snow in a large fire in the fireplace, while Kadaj and Yazoo thawed out the old man in a hot bath.

"Wah! You perverted heathens! Get away from me!"

Kadaj and Yazoo busted out of the bathroom two seconds later, sopping wet… Apparently the Chocobo master's main attack:

Splashing them.

"Heh. Lets keep him alive HUR HUR! IT WOULDA BEEN EASIER TO DICK AROUND WITH THE BREEDING THAN GET THE INFORMATION OUTTA THIS OLD FOOL! Good thinkin' Kadaj!" Yazoo snapped ringing out his hair.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Neah!" Kadaj spat back, stomping and throwing a temper tantrum.

Their whole situation was too frustrating for them to handle.

Not only were they stuck in a stupid old man's house trying to get world saving information, but it was cold, SNOWING, blizzarding, and they could just tell that it was going to take a very long time to get what they needed.

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"It took us three days to get all the information out of him… he kept forgetting who he was. Loz had to go into town every morning and get me candy… if he hadn't, heh. The house would have easily been burnt to the ground… with everyone but me still inside." Kadaj sighed, after telling Alathia everything that'd happened.

Alathia chuckled to herself and petted the glossy feathers of the Chocobo… it seemed to like her a whole lot more than Kadaj. It ruffled its feathers gently so the woman could scratch the skin along its neck. Alathia sighed contentedly and hopped on its back.

Woo… that kinda took a bit outta her! Guess all that time spent NOT training, eating lots of Tifa's good food, and sleeping a lot, took its toll.

"Please don't let him say anything, please don't let him say anything, please don't let him say anything… Its embarrassing enough that I noticed it!" she thought, fixing her shirt and catching her breath.

…

"AW! Looks like SOMEONE'S finally filling out their figure. Aw, look at the little pudge!" Kadaj cooed, poking Alathia's belly button with his index finger. She was a bit chunkier.

He was, of course, a guy… and men don't gain weight as easily.

Alathia squirmed atop the Chocobo and slapped his finger away. He laughed heartily… until the Chocobo pecked at him.

"H-hey! What was that for?" Kadaj gasped.

The bird warked loudly and hissed at the surprised young fellow.

He blinked up at Alathia, who blinked back down, realizing that she could use this to her advantage. A tiny smirk made its way onto her face and she immediately urged the chocobo on with a "GET HIM!"

Kadaj sprinted through his dome… Alathia and the bird not far behind.


	32. Chapter 32

A/N- I got the chocobo racing idea from finalfantasywordsman77… she deserves full credit for this . Edited. Enjoy.

Part 2

Alexia laughed as Yazoo repeated the whole story Kadaj had told Alathia.

"So why did it take you three days?" she asked curiously just before they entered his dome.

"Mmmm…"

(-Flashback-)

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Neah!"

"…I'm sorry Kadaj… I didn't mean to upset you." Yazoo sighed softly, lowering his head and staring at the ground.

"Forget about it Yazoo… We're all tired…. I really could use a hot fudge Sunday… without the ice cream right about now." Kadaj smirked, warming his soaked pants by the fire.

Yazoo cringed slightly… a bowl of hot, sugary, chocolaty, goopy, fudge was not his idea of something appetizing.

Kadaj loved his sweets a bit too much… It was turning into a comfort food for him. Before the women had come, sweets were just a treat. Now that everything seemed to be digging them into a bigger hole, and a little closer to hell, Kadaj was stocking up on the stuff.

Yazoo flicked and ruffled his hair… trying his best to dry it.

"Where am I? This is a lovely house you three have here. Where's your mother?" the chocobo master asked, walking out of the bathroom and sniffling.

Snot was running out of his nose and his sunglasses couldn't sit on top of his baggy eyes.

"Mmmm, we don't have a mother… Now, don't you wanna sit down and soak your feet in this warm water?" Loz cooed, ignoring the fact that the water was boiling.

The chocobo master didn't seem to notice as he plopped down in a chair and dunked his feet in the water.

All three men cringed, but acted like nothing was wrong.

"Master… can you please tell us how to get a gold chocobo?" Kadaj pouted, giving the old man puppy dog eyes.

…

"Why do ya'll keep calling me master? That ain't my name! The name's Robert… or is it Finkley… Jim? Who am I?"

Kadaj's left brow began to twitch as he tried his best not to whip out Souba and slice the worthless fool to pieces.

"Hey, hehe… In the morning I'll go into town. Ya want anything… specifically you Kadaj." Loz smiled through gritted teeth.

"Candy… and lots of it."

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"It went on and on like that for days! He'd forget who he was… remember… start telling us the instructions, forget parts, forget who he was again, remember… AND FALL ASLEEP! Gah!" Yazoo twitched, opening the dome door…

What they saw next surprised them. Instead of Alexia's chocobo being in its stall, it was waiting for them at the door.

"WARK!"

"AH!" Alexia shrieked back and hid behind Yazoo.

Yazoo clicked his tongue thrice and walked up to the wild bird. It chirped happily back, and allowed him to scratch the feathers along its neck. The man smiled up at the happy bird and continued scratching its neck and talking baby talk.

"Oh, good girl, yes you are, yes you are! Look at how absolutely blue your feathers are, oh how pretty! Yous a pretty girl aren't you? Now how'd you get outta the stable? Hehe, go ahead Alexia… she's sweet. Pet her."

Alexia detached herself from Yazoo's back and slowly reached out for its feathers.

…

Slowly.

…

Almost touching.

…

Finger tips grazing.

…

WARK!

"Neah! Its crazy!"

"No its not… just cause I got you a bird that was a bit rambunctious last time,"

"It tried to peck my eyes out before the race Yazoo!"

"He was upset! You scared him!"

"How! I was talking to Alathia! I was no where near the ruddy thing!"

"Just shut up and practice riding this one!"

There was a short stare down among all three creatures before Alexia sighed and hopped on its back.

"See, she ain't gonna hurt yah!" Yazoo sighed happily.

…

WARK!

…

"Yazoo when-this-thing-stops-I-am-so-totally-going-to-kill-you!"

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The air from the crowd was filled with the stench of the stables, tobacco, cigarettes, cheap perfume, and cologne. Sephiroth had to swallow some of his vomit twice… so he didn't seem like a fool.

His long silver hair was tucked into a beanie, and he wore street clothes. Oh how he hated street clothes. They left him feeling weak and unprotected, even though he didn't need protection.

Avalanche and the silver haireds rushed up to the chocobo race stands, while Alathia and Alexia lead their birds to the track.

Sephiroth's head spun with lights, noises, laughter, and smells. The odor from before had died down once in their seats, and gave way to the smell of something he liked… gunpowder.

Fireworks were going off everywhere before the races started (which was why gun powder was in the air), and a tiny symphonic band played marches while everyone seated themselves.

The silver haired men smiled contently as they were very VERY grateful to get out of the hole in the ground… and away from the red mountains with barely anything…BUT mountains.

Their wide eyes took in everything as the afternoon sky was covered by the gold saucer's always-nighttime sky. It glowed with the random sparks of firework light, and the final call for the riders was announced on the intercom.

Loz pecked Yuffie on the cheek and squeezed her tightly before whispering something in her ear…

"What was it that you wanted to talk about hon?" he purred softly.

Yuffie bit her lower lip and looked at him worriedly. She began debating on whether she should really tell him or not.

"What if… or what if… oh maybe it's a bad idea. But someone needs to know."

The battle in her mind gave way to one side and she leaned over to talk in his ear.

"I think those two girls are up to something. I think they're planning on leaving after the Great Battle."

Loz's form went rigid as what she'd said sunk into his brain. He really didn't know what to do. Should he tell Sephiroth? Should he be freaking out? What about his younger brothers! They'd be devastated! No. Nothing like that should happen, not until he found out it was true. Just as he was about to ask what made her say that, a gunshot was fired into the air, and the race gates opened.

The race had begun and Alathia was in it.

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Alathia's bird warked loudly at the earth shattering boom of the gun, and darted out of the gates as soon as they were open. She shut her eyes tight and practically clung to the bird's neck in order to stay on. Beast #2, as Kadaj properly named it, sped forward into the third place spot. It was no use trying to control this thing during the race; she'd have to let it run itself.

Alathia tried to open her eyes as they sped along, going through the hologram worlds, but the wind was whipping around them too fast. Alathia's heart fell into her stomach as she heard another bird and rider next to her… The bird hissed and pecked at Beat #2's legs, trying its best to trip it and pull ahead.

Beast warked back and rammed itself into the other, sending sharp pains through Alathia's left leg. Her eyes snapped open, and mouth opened in shock. This crazy bird just smashed her leg. A tiny whimper escaped her throat as the two birds pulled away, opponent having been rammed into a gate.

Painful tears filled Alathia's eyes and threatened to spill all over her cheeks as she felt her flesh beginning to swell around the knee. But she wouldn't let them fall, and gritted her teeth in silence.

They pulled into second place.

Alathia felt her weight slipping, as her wounded leg couldn't hold the grip anymore. Things became blurry as the dull pain shot up her leg and all through her body. Her breath hitched in her throat as the bird increased its speed even more.

They pulled into first place.

Alathia's body was leaning off the saddle and more towards the right side of it as they neared the end. She screamed painfully as the person they'd just passed rammed his bird into her left leg… sending another wave of pain through her body. Each bird hissed at each other as they ran neck and neck. Alathia clenched her teeth and buried her face into Beast's soft feathers as the other rider rammed his bird into them repeatedly.

Blood was beginning to smear on the opponent's saddle, her bird, and her leg…

This was exactly why Alathia despised being a rider. The other riders would stop at nothing to win, while she was just trying to get her bird to get a higher class.

Just as all hope seemed to be lost, and Alathia released her grip on the bird, Beast #2 opened its wings, creating a soft place for Alathia to land instead of the ground, and darted ahead.

They'd won the race by a head.

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"Woo, yeah! Alathia won! She's a freaking mess, but Beat is S class now! Woo go Alathia!" Kadaj shouted, jumping up from his seat and throwing a couple punches in the air.

Alathia hopped off the bird and hobbled to its side, clinging to its feathers for support.

She scanned the crowd and found her friends via her boyfriend acting like a maniac. Alathia chuckled to herself at the sight of him.

How adorable.

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Sephiroth smiled and politely yanked Kadaj back down in his seat.

"Don't draw so much attention boy! Now, save my seat until I get back. I must take Alathia her weapon."

Kadaj and everyone else blinked in surprise as Sephiroth gripped both of her gun blades and left to the stables.

Alexia was just getting seated on her bird as Seph walked up with his weaponry.

She and the bird were getting along MUCH better after the both of them went to battle with Yazoo.

And won.

She smirked at him as he casually strode up to her and handed Alexia the guns.

"Now remember: defense only. Don't cheat like the others, got it?" Seph questioned warningly.

"Uh hum." Alexia responded lazily while hooking the holders to her sides.

Seph departed and Alathia rode her bird to the race gates.

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Alexia dared look at no one as she entered her gate slot. The riders were all sneering at each other and showing off their weaponry. She always got stuck in the race with the REAL cheaters.

Dio, the gold saucer's owner, had changed the rule for this specific race (rather than take it out all together) when a rider was murdered on the track.

Riders could now carry weapons for protection ONLY. But it seemed to make everything worse. Riders were almost always locked in combat the whole race, trying to knock each other off, injure each other, or anything else just so they could pull ahead.

Alexia ignored the death glares from the riders and spoke softly to her bird… not really expecting it to understand.

"No matter what happens to me, I want you to run as fast as you can."

The shot was fired and the gates snapped open, revealing all fourteen aggressive riders.

Aquarius, as Yazoo had named the bird, pulled into fourth place within seconds. Alathia dodged daggers, throwing stars, and swords as Aquarius passed all but three riders.

Third place rider wasn't about to give up his spot so easily, and leaned back revealing two pistols. Riders never aimed at the birds, as that was cause for forfeiting and immediate removal from the gold saucer… and yet it was okay to hurt the other riders (Dio wasn't paying too much attention when he made the rules).

Alexia gasped and used her gun blades as a shield to the rain of bullets shot at her. With a lot of luck, and a memory from Yazoo's aiming lessons, Alexia managed to shoot both the man's guns out of his hands.

"Only for defense, only for defense, only for defense. GODS WHY CAN'T I SHOOT THAT SNEER OFF HIS FACE? Only for defense…" Alexia whispered to herself as Aquarius pulled ahead into third place.

She shuddered as she heard clanging metal and cries of agony behind her, but dared not look at the carnage.

Determined to win, Alexia whispered a 'go faster' to her bird and stared straight ahead. So close to second, her heart was racing with anticipation. Each time they passed someone the opponent got harder and harder.

There they were, neck and neck for second, and not far behind the first place rider.

Alexia desperately tried to just pass the rider without having to combat, but again failed. It was a she rider, and as soon as they were close enough, the woman was trying to cut loose Alexia's saddle with her daggers.

…

Alexia let a cry of frustration escape from her throat as the woman successfully managed to cut off Aquarius's reigns.

The bird took it personally.

Aquarius warked angrily and pecked the opposing rider in the head; causing the woman to fall off her bird.

Alexia saw the end of the track only one mile away as they came upon the last rider. The instant Aquarius was beside the other rider, Alexia had to block a slice from a very long, thin blade.

The man hissed like a snake and swung at her back. Alexia bent backwards, still starring at her opponent, and blocked the strike with her gun blades.

Sparks were flying everywhere as the two riders rounded the last curb.

Alexia gritted her teeth as the man tried to cut her in half, and blocked it… bringing their faces closer together. There was a stare down for an instant before the man smirked.

…

And cut the strap to her saddle off.

Alexia screamed at the sudden loss of balance and began sliding off the bird.

As gracefully as possible, the girl flipped around Aquarius's neck (nearly choking the bird) and perched right where she'd been before.

Aquarius passed the finish line first.


	33. Chapter 33

A/N- gosh. This musta been a pain in the ass. Edited. Enjoy.

Part 3

The crowd cheered for her as she dismounted Aquarius and scanned the crowd. Yazoo was practically having a seizure full of happiness and anger… AT THE SAME TIME! She thought she saw his velvet nightmare slowly being pulled out from under his trench coat, but one look from Sephiroth and the gun had disappeared again.

Alathia was in the stands with them all, as fully healed from her race as possible, and signaling that they had to get going.

Alexia watched as Alathia slipped away quietly and made her way to the meeting area. What neither of them noticed was the fact that Yuffie and Loz were watching them intently, and scooted away as soon as Alathia had snuck off.

After the award ceremony was finished, Alathia and Alexia met up at the chocobo stables (Yuffie and Loz hiding in an empty one.), and packed away the birds; awaiting the arrival of their ride back to the mainland… he was late (or maybe they were).

"Hello ladies, you're just the two I've been waiting for." A very scary looking man slunk up to the two surprised women.

They blinked back stupidly. He chuckled at their awkwardness and continued to speak as if nothing were terribly wrong.

"Do you have my money?" the man nearly whispered, snapping both of them out of their confusion.

"Err, yeah… H-here tis." Alexia sighed withdrawing a tiny black bag from her back sac and handing it to the man.

Alathia snatched it out of her hand and held it tightly to her chest, surprising the other two.

"What makes us so sure that you're not trying to screw us over?" she snapped, jeering at her opponent.

The man simply smiled and pulled back his long, dark, oily hair.

"Can you afford not to trust me?"

Alathia blinked hesitantly… and slowly released the money to the man.

"That's a good girl. Now, when would you like to leave? The next trip is about two weeks away. Is that too soon?"

"N-no I think that's fine." Alexia replied, kicking at the straw on the ground.

This felt wrong.

"Good then. Now, let's go have a seat and I shall give you directions and a map to my boat."

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The tiny stall smelt of fresh straw and mud…

Yuffie loved it.

Loz hated it.

As soon as the two girls had walked off with the man, Loz made sure to drag Yuffie out of the stall and out of the stables completely.

"Ow, Loz what are you doing? Let go, you're hurting my arm!" she squealed, pounding on his rock hard arm.

Loz let go and just grumbled a ' we're telling Sephiroth and my brothers'.

Yuffie's eyes widened with fear and she ran ahead of him, outstretching her arms to stop him.

"No! C'mon Loz! (He went around her determined to find his siblings) Think about this! They'll be too upset to hold out at the Great Battle! Do you really wanna kill your own brothers?"

Yuffie's last question seemed to strike a nerve as she stopped and shouted it at his back. The hulking man in front of her went into a dead stop and sighed.

"I think I should at least tell Sephiroth. He has a right to know. My brothers do too, but its those girls' responsibility to tell them… I guess."

Yuffie slowly walked up and gently wrapped her arm around his.

"I'll come with you. It'll be easier that way." She smiled up at him and lead the way back through the crowd.

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"Are you sure?"

"Yes brother. Yuffie says they've been making phone calls since they started living with Avalanche. And we just watched them making the arrangements for the departure." Loz stated, Yuffie still clinging to his arm and nodding.

"Let them then."

"W-what? Why? What about Kadaj and Yazoo?" Loz gasped.

"They'll understand. I'm sure the women won't leave without saying goodbye in some way. Don't say anything to them. We can't risk them failing at the Great Battle."

Loz blinked in astonishment. He couldn't believe how calm Seph was being. Unfortunately the only response he could do was a sad shake to the head as he followed Sephiroth to meet everyone else by the entrance/exit to the gold saucer.

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Loz glared at the women as they stood talking with Kadaj and Yazoo. Everyone said their goodbyes quickly, and Kadaj & Yazoo were begged to hurry up and get the gold chocobo and grab the materia.

Everyone was getting anxious and felt Jenova was read for the final show down.

"Ok…we'll have it all done by tonight. Promise." Kadaj stated firmly to everyone, leading the Chocobos out.

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"Wow, I can't believe this thing can walk on water! This is so awesome!" Kadaj shouted over his shoulder to his brother.

Yazoo 'uh huh'ed back and clung even tighter to his brother.

Only one gold chocobo was made, and the brothers had to share the ride. Yazoo was getting motion sickness.

Kadaj was laughing and cheering, all the while his older brother was clinging around his waist; ready to vomit.

They flew up over the last mountain and Kadaj stopped the bird at the mouth of a grand cave. After shimmying out of Yazoo's grip, Kadaj slashed away the foliage around the gaping entrance. Yazoo scrambled off the bird and joined his brother shortly after.

"What if someone else took it?" Yazoo sighed, gaining his composure and walking right next to his younger brother.

Kadaj hesitated to enter the dark hole and just stood there looking at its blackness.

"Its really big." He whispered, barely being heard by Yazoo.

His brother smirked in response and patted his back playfully.

"What's wrong little brother? Afraid of the dark?"

Kadaj's nostrils flared in anger as he spat an 'I am not!' at Yazoo and chased him into the cave. Yazoo was laughing as Kadaj caught up and football tackled his Nisan.

The two hit the ground with a dull thud that echoed off the cavern walls, making both realize just how big it was.

"Let's just find the materia. Its nighttime and I can barely see a thing in here. What's that light coming from?" Yazoo chuckled, dusting off his leather outfit.

"I think its coming from our summoning material. C'mon, follow the light." Kadaj mumbled back. They could sense something was wrong.

Water dripped from the walls, creating the illusion that Geostigma was oozing from its cracks. It crept the both of them out.

The two silver haireds wandered around stalactites and stalagmites, curves, crevices and waded through water until they found their material. The brothers gasped in awe as the natural red light from the material sparkled and danced off the cavern walls.

Kadaj went to dash up and grab it, but Yazoo yanked him back at the very last moment.

"W-what the hell's your problem? Let go, I wanna get the materia!" Kadaj protested, trying his best to yank his arm free.

Yazoo withdrew his gun blade and cocked it, freaking his younger brother out even more. Was Yazoo gonna shoot him?

"H-hey, wait! This is silly. You can go get it if you really want! Don't gotta get all hostile!"

"I think you'd better get Souba out… seems someone got here before us." Yazoo whispered, releasing his brother's arm.

Kadaj turned to see what the hell his brother was talking about, and withdrew his blade as soon as he saw the enemy.

A pair of Mako green eyes stared at him from behind the rocks with the materia on it.

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"Seph, I'm going to the entrance. Something feels weird about it. I already called Avalanche and they're coming to visit. I'll be back in a bit." Loz told Sephiroth just before walking out the reconstructed door.

Loz and Seph had spent a few hours completing the living room. They'd gotten tired of the attention to detail and just rushed through everything… Turned out nicer than they thought it would. Seph was going to use that as a surprise when his younger two siblings returned with the materia. He knew they'd be excited because it'd mean the girls could come back… and they could be almost like a real family again.

Seph sighed, not REALLY wanting to see Avalanche yet again and wishing he could uninvited them. Seph sat down in what was left of a couch, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes.

He heard footsteps come in the entrance.

It'd only been a moment, why was Loz back? Seph blinked away the sleep that was threatening to over take his body and looked at the man in the doorway.

"No…fucking…way."

The protective seal was finally broken.


	34. Chapter 34

A/N- Edited. Enjoy

Part 4

Yazoo kicked at the dirt uncomfortably as the two rested outside the cave entrance. Kadaj held the shattered pieces of material in his hands and stared at them idly.

Jenova'd sent one of her clones to stop them from getting the materia, and succeeded. Even though they'd destroyed her minion it was too late. The clone crushed the ball of material in its hands just before Kadaj landed the final blow. Crushing their last hope of defeating their insane alien mother.

"Don't worry Kadaj, I'm sure we'll find something else." Yazoo tried to comfort.

"Sephiroth said it was our last hope. Here's all that's left of it. A few shards of rock. What're we gonna do now? Jenova's not waiting any longer. We're… we're in for." Kadaj sighed, letting the broken material slip out of his hands and tinker on the ground.

Yazoo couldn't disagree. He shook his head and sighed heavily.

"C'mon, let's go. There's nothing here for us." Kadaj murmured, getting up and walking to the bird.

The ride home was silent… the return, not so.

"Oh fuck!" Kadaj spat, blocking a blow from yet another clone.

As soon as the two had gone through the hole, they were ambushed.

"Shit!" Yazoo yelped, bending back to avoid his head being cut off, and losing his balance, and falling into the water.

The clone smirked at his surprise, but was soon surprised himself. Kadaj's Souba punctured its abdomen and protruded from his stomach. The clone fell to its knees and melted into the ground as a black liquid.

"…ew…" Kadaj snapped, and dove into the water with his brother.

The two frantically swam to the Petrified Forest and were greeted by a very battered Loz, Yuffie, Red XIII, and Cid.

"C'mon, Sephiroth need help at the house." Red XIII growled, leading the way with a slight limp.

Black liquid littered the ground as well as unconscious bodies of Avalanche members… and Alathia & Alexia.

As much as the men wanted to stop and help, they could not. Sephiroth's body was not on the ground and everyone could see sparks flying in the dark house from the windows.

He was still fighting.

Everyone was engaged in battle as soon as they'd entered the house. Swords clashed, sparks flew, bullets fired, gunpowder riddled the air, and fire was everywhere!

Energy blasts blew holes in everything, catching the real wood on fire.

Geostigma was getting the best of the three brothers.

"Wah!" Cid yelped, being tossed into a wall and landing in a heap on the floor.

"Cid!" Yuffie screamed, only to be blasted into a heap with him. Loz was shocked with electricity and fell in a smoking pile on the floor. Red jumped at the fierce clone with a throaty growl, only to be shot down by one of its energy blasts. A small yelp was heard when his body hit a wall and landed with a thump on the floor.

"Kadaj, Yazoo Look out!" Sephiroth tried to warn… but it was too late.

A clone had snuck behind the both of them as they stood next to each other, and proceeded to send electricity through their bodies.

Ear piercing screams escaped their lips as sparks of the power jumped from their tensed skin. Their weapons fell to the ground as their muscles froze from the current passing through their bodies. Seph watched in horror as the clone stopped, and smoke escaped from his little brothers' mouths.

They fell to the ground with a whimper and didn't move. Sephiroth was the last one standing and was quickly being closed in by six or so clones of himself. In a last attempt to free himself, he rushed forward at one of them… only to be stopped by excruciating pain running all through his body. The geostigma brought him to his knees this time.

Seph panted, body exhausted from the endless amount of fighting he'd been doing. Shadows loomed over his stooped form as Sephiroth heaved and ground his teeth in pain. A mesamune replica landed in front of him as a heavy booted foot kicked his chin up to face the clone. Seph blinked the sweat and blood out of his eyes and glared up at… himself. It smirked back, mako eyes glowing in the darkness and mouthed, 'puppet' down at the defeated man.

The six replica mesamunes were raised above Seph's head and he closed his eyes… waiting for the rush of pain to fill his body.

The house suddenly began to rumble and shake, causing the clones to snap their attention from their prey. A rush of water bursted up from the depths of the earth, destroying the house and everything in its wake.

The water rushed over Seph's body, gently caressing the weakened warrior and drowning out the pain. Everything went dark as the comforting water swirled around his limp form.

…

AND THEY ALL DROWN! THE END! Kidding.

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The water glistened with lifestream as it slowly poured back into the entrance lake. The black goo from the clones was gone, and everyone began to wake.

"F-ing #$&#$! My cigs are soggy! Damnit Aeris! You and your water's gotta but in and ruin my damn cigs. We were doing fine without ya!" Cid griped as he put a soggy cig into his mouth and tried to light it.

The water gurgled and a tiny stream of it shot in his eye in response.

"Neah!" A loud scream emanated from two girls waking up from their recent pummeling.

"My hair!" Tifa and Yuffie screeched in unison, feeling the chunks of clone hanging in their hair.

Barret and Cait Sith walked up to the other two and laughed at their problem. The girls huffed back in response, but soon busted out laughing as the two malfunctioned. Barret's arm short-circuited and began sparking. Cait Sith had such a spasm that he slammed his face right into the soggy dirt. Cid followed the shouting and joined in the complaining.

Pretty soon, everyone was reunited: silver haireds bitching about having absolutely nothing yet again, Tifa & Yuffie having a conniption over their hair, Barret's arm sparking, Cait Sith randomly seizing, Cloud & Vincent picking chunks of clone off their outfits, Red shaking himself off (sending another wave of complaints), and Alexia & Alathia sat picking the chunks of it out of their shirts and hair.

Even if everyone was complaining… secretly they were very grateful for Aeris's help.

"Hey, I'm not in pain anymore! We're healed!" Kadaj cheered happily.

…

"Did you get that materia Kadaj?" Seph asked slyly.

When he received no response he merely mumbled, 'don't count on not feeling pain for very long." and smiled at him through gritted teeth.

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"Where have you been all day? I dug this hole all by myself, no help from you!" Zack spat as Aeris came waltzing in.

"I was out saving the day while you were playing in the dirt." Aeris shot back angrily.

The two went at it like none other, while two little children walked in.

Aeris saw them before they'd even made it to the hole.

"Oh, ya know what? I'm tired of having to re-dig that hole." She mumbled, going into water form and blasting the innocent kids with a rush of water.

They screamed and cried, running out of the church and hiding behind a dumpster.

"What was that?" the little boy cried, wringing out his sopping wet shirt.

"I-I don't know! But it didn't want us near that hole! Hey… no more pain! I'm healed!" the near toothless little girl shouted, looking at her arms in surprise (where the Geostigma used to be).

The two smiled at each other in disbelief and continued to dry themselves off.


	35. Chapter 35

A/N- Edited. Enjoy.

Last Chapter: Missed Goodbye.

The silver haired men slowly sulked up to what was left of their beautiful home. Chunks of wood floated down the stream in the Aeris water as the last of the rock wood foundation crumbled at their feet.

"So much for a place to call home." Kadaj murmured, kicking aside a small pillar and pulling out a bag of sopping hard candies.

Yazoo ruffled around in the area where the room used to be, and pulled out one of his sketchbooks.

"So much for having any of our belongings as well." He sighed, looking over the soggy papers for anything salvageable.

Cloud and Tifa were conversing quietly as they walked up to the house to see the damage.

"What'd all Reno say?" Tifa asked worriedly.

"He said that ShinRa were getting strange interferences when their helicopter flew over the Northern Crater. Reno's checking it out as we speak…he said he'd call back in a few… Man, I think this is it. We're going to have to go today." Cloud said, worry plaguing his face.

Kadaj had heard it all thanks to his great senses.

"But… I didn't get Knights of the Round. And that's one of the strongest materias in the world. How are we going to beat her without any materia when we couldn't even beat the Seph clones without it?" Kadaj pouted.

Cloud smirked.

"I have a lot of materia… like, two knights of the round. My party will keep our mastered one and your party can have the one that was born from it."

"Why didn't you offer to do this before!" Alathia screamed loudly.

"Mmm, you never asked…and I figured it'd be good if you got your own materia." Cloud answered back with a slight chuckle.

Sephiroth ignored everyone. The man sighed heavily as he watched a chunk of the house floating off into the distance. Sephiroth somehow felt responsible; like all of this happened because of him. Was it his entire fault? Could it be that all because of the incident in Nibelheim that they would never be able to live a normal life?

Deep in thought, Seph sank down on a fallen pillar and rested. His muscles ached from the recent battles, and his limbs craved relaxation. Although the Geostigma was gone, he still felt a dull pain where the spots had surfaced, and hissed when he rubbed the soft spots on his arm…still tender.

Slowly, the sounds of the others began to grow louder in his ears and he drifted out of his deep thought…feeling slightly upset that he could be at fault for everything.

"You're so stupid…gods I'm glad we never actually made it long enough for you to rescue us…" Alathia scoffed, glowering at Cloud.

"Yeah…what a disaster that would have been…tsh." Alexia agreed quietly.

Cloud shrugged it off.

"So what do you want to do Sephiroth?" he asked, stepping in front of everyone, right in front of the slumped man.

" I want to rest. Take us to Cosmo Canyon… We shall deal with Jenova in the morning. My body aches from everything and I require a good sleep."

"And hot food…" Kadaj added with a hungry look in his eyes.

"Fine. Lets all go eat something and rest up. We've got quite the adventure to tend to tomorrow." Red growled, inviting everyone to Cosmo Canyon for a feast.

Avalanche walked ahead of the sliver haireds, chitchatting about everything. The woman hung behind the men, mumbling and giving each other shifty looks whenever Kadaj or Yazoo looked back at them.

They knew this was it. After the events of the next day…. they'd be on their way home.

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Sephiroth didn't like how absolutely dull Alathia and Alexia had become lately. Yes, he knew they were upset with having to leave in secret, but he didn't expect them to turn to zombies. What happened to the funny, obnoxious, random girls who were running around in their underwear the first full day that they'd been in his care? What happened to the girls who loved picking fights with his younger brothers, pulling their hair, biting them, scratching, kicking, screaming, and hitting the boys whenever they got the chance?

They'd gone…and replacing them were these two dreary zombies who saw no light…or hope. They rarely laughed, smiled, or participated in conversations… Just sat back, listening, only speaking when spoken to.

He hated it.

All during the feast the two had huddled in a corner of the grand dining hall, picking at their food and watching with dead eyes as everyone else enjoyed themselves.

They were enjoying their victory of the days fight while those two mourned over what was to come. Seph sighed and ignored them as best he could.

"I don't feel like partying…C'mon, let's go to bed." Alathia sighed, throwing her and Alexia's untouched food in the garbage and shuffling out the door.

Cosmo Canyon was a very comforting place to be staying. Although the set up of it was just a jumbled path of ladders and rocks, Alathia and Alexia enjoyed it very much. The sun never seemed to set as the sky continued to glow with the canyon's natural red aura.

"Do we have to go to bed, can't we go sit by the fire for a while…its too pretty out here not to try and enjoy it! Besides, this'll probably be the last time we see this." Alexia complained.

Alathia shrugged and the two settled themselves next to the ever-lit fire. The two were just getting comfortable when Kadaj and Yazoo slowly walked up to the fire. Alathia squeaked slightly but continued to stare at the fire. Alexia was lying down on her side and seemed to get a big irritated when Yazoo blocked the warmth of the burning flame.

"Hey! Don't stand right in front of the fire!" she snapped, hitting Yazoo's shin with a soft fist.

"Can I lie with you?"

"Yes…"

Yazoo shuffled beside her and sprawled out on the hard stone platform.

Kadaj slumped down next to Alathia and proceeded to fling her hair about until she tackled him.

"You feel ok heh. Usually you're trying to destroy me as soon as I try to touch your beautiful hair." He laughed, wriggling free from her grip.

Alathia shot him a nasty glare, huffed, and began fixing her blond locks.

"I'm just a little tired…haven't really been able to relax much lately." She sighed, smiling at him warningly.

He'd tried to flip her hair round again.

"Tsh know whatcha mean. Mmm, one this is all over we'll be able to relax again. No more training. Would you mind living with Cloud and them until we find a home?" he asked softly.

"I wouldn't mind staying here with you. Why aren't you rebuilding your house?" Alathia asked, trying her best to keep from bursting into tears.

"We don't want to live in that hole. And Cloud promised us he'd clear our name so we could run around Gaia!"

Alathia chuckled and the two continued talking

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"Your breath smells like garlic." Alexia complained as the two lay sprawled out on the cool ground.

"Thanks…I did just spend the last hour eating, unlike you."

"I wasn't hungry. All that clone gunk kinda spoiled my appetite. Makes me worry about how many more she must have. Yaz she's gotta have a million of those things! A few were nothing to her…but they seemed like a lot to us…and-"

"The sky's pretty out here, doncha think?" Yazoo interrupted calmly, stretching out so his back popped.

Alexia looked over and glared at him, but soon found herself staring into the heavens.

He was right; the sky was beautiful out there. The stars sparkled in the dark red sky as night tried to make itself more evident. They both closed their eyes and took in the sounds of the crackling fire, and the smell of firewood and dirt. Funny how these simple things could lull someone to sleep.

Just as the two were about to drift off, a loud, "ASS!" was heard, and Kadaj and Alathia tumbled on top of the surprised couple. Way to ruin the moment.

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Reno writhed in pain as the two replica mesamunes dug into his shoulders painfully.

"Now now dears…this is no way to treat our guest. Please, remove your swords and let the gentleman rest. He's been through enough. Haven't you Turk?" Jenova hissed from a top her stone perch.

Reno's helicopter was now nothing more than a burning heap of rubble, sitting crumpled at the edge of the crater. How it came that way, Reno couldn't fully remember. All he remembered was catching a glimpse of hundreds of Sephiroths darting out of the many random caves on the mountain side, and the next second, a huge explosion rattled the back end of the copter. When he awoke, two of the clones had drug him into the crater and deep within the mountain, where they continued to pummel and torture him… right in front of a pure mako body… Jenova.

The clones grunted their obedience and yanked the swords out of the Turk's shoulders, causing him to scream aloud.

"Hush child… soon it'll all be over (Reno whimpers). By this time tomorrow I will have destroyed the Lilyous (Reno mumbles, "what the hell is a Lilyous?"), Ridden Gaia of Avalanche, and this world will be mine for the taking… My children…hm… perhaps I should keep them alive just long enough for them to realize how wrong they were. Betraying their mother! I, who gave them life. They dare defy me? Dears, be good to me. Smear some of his blood on his id and cut off that ridiculous ponytail (Reno: WTF! Of all things to mess with she's gotta pick the hair!)… We'll be sending them to Cloud." She chuckled, allowing her clones to continue abusing the prisoner Turk.

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Sunlight poured in through the windows, filling the room with red light. Cloud's chest slowly rose and fell as he continued to lie still in bed. Even if he was awake, Cloud wasn't about to get out of bed anytime soon. Some disaster or fairly large commotion had to happen for him to even consider getting up… besides; it's too cold in the morning! Especially when you're only in boxers.

Cloud lazily opened his eyes and stared at the red ceiling. Something was glistening, and was making bight speckles on the dark ceiling. Puzzled, Cloud looked down where the item should have been placed, and blinked back his surprise.

On his stomach lay a fairly bloody Turk ID card, and a huge, long, disgusting, red, ponytail of hair.

"…TIFA!"


	36. Chapter 36

Part II

Edited, Enjoy.

"Oh…oh my gosh. So what do you want to do?" Tifa stammered as she fingered the long ponytail.

Cloud had woken everyone, and the group stood groggily looking at the gross hair and bloodied ID card.

Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz all stood in their boxers scratching their asses and wiping the sleep from their eyes. Tifa and Yuffie had rushed out in their own sleep pants that were practically falling off of them and also had crazy morning hair, and none of the other Avalanche or other members looked much better.

"We gotta get goin'. I don't know how long she's planning on letting him live. He's the bait, we're the catch." Cloud stated solemnly.

The words 'letting him live' seemed to ring in everyone's mind. To think… Jenova had this poor Turk's life in her hands… to toss away after she's reeled her catch in. It was absurd; no one should be able to do that. Jenova didn't have the right to play God with any of their lives…especially someone that had nothing to do with this whole mess.

Cloud felt like it was his fault. Had he just told the Turks to stay away… had he warned them of the danger, Reno wouldn't be caught in the middle. He cursed under his breath as he strode away from the silent group, id and hair clenched in a fist.

Everyone readied themselves quickly as Cloud rushed them. Less than a half-hour had passed, and the group was equipped with their weaponry and materias.

"Everything set?" Cloud asked, shifting his sword on his back.

Sephiroth nodded for the group, who still stood silently awaiting orders.

"Alright then… Let's go."

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"Oh look…they decided to come for you! Well Reno, you should feel lucky (Reno: "Yuck…your breath smells awful!")" Jenova hissed into Reno's ear, slamming his head against the cold stonewall a moment later.

Reno growled in protest and continued his usual muffled complaining and helpless wriggling on the floor. His bindings were beginning to break the skin and his gag was actually starting to choke him. Jenova kicked him maliciously before continuing to order the clones around.

"Children, let us rise up and meet our guests. I'm sure they're expecting us to have a grand entrance…hm Let's see let's see," Jenova cooed, placing a long finger to her pale lips.

She searched the crowd of eager clones for any signs of a good idea… none came. Cat-like eyes darted off the glistening rock walls and landed on the struggling Turk. He stopped struggling as soon as he felt her cold stare on the back of his head.

"Oh please…. Oh gods no… don't." he thought as she slowly stepped up to the rigid man.

The only movement she saw was the quick rise and fall of Reno's chest as he lay still on the ground.

"You'll do JUST fine. They'll think we'll hand you right over, and then… Just as you're about to be embraced: BOOM! (Reno cringed and let out a tiny whimper) Catch them off guard… Yes yes, I do believe that'll be the plan. Alright everyone, gather him and prepare for the battle."

Reno was swept up in a blur of silver hair and black leather as Jenova lead her dogs to the mountain surface.

Sephiroths poured out of the sides of the mountain, crawling from any cavern, any crevices, and any opening that could be found.

Avalanche & Co. stood stiff on the icy fields, awaiting their first move.

They weren't striking… how odd.

Sephiroth rushed Alexia and Alathia up front as everyone checked their materia and weaponry.

"As soon as Reno gets within a couple feet of you two, I want you to transform. She's going to blow him to bits right before we get our hands on him." Sephiroth whispered sternly.

"How'd you know that?" Alathia asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"She's got a big mouth, and a really big, unprotected head. I can hear her thoughts." He smirked playfully.

Alathia and Alexia sighed, and slowly squatted down into battle stance. Ironically, the sun was beaming in the clear blue sky, making the snow extremely wet and crunchy. The women slowly began to gather energy for the transformation.

"Sephiroth… a gift of peace." Jenova's voice echoed across the endless fields.

She roughly shoved the battered Reno forward, and her minions created a narrow space for him to walk; opening where Alathia and Alexia stood in defense.

Reno didn't want to go forward. He knew exactly what she was going to pull. Him stepping forward meant almost certain death. Reno solemnly looked back at Jenova with leading eyes before sprinting through the lines of clones.

Everything again became a blur of sparkling green eyes, silver hair, and black leather as fear quickly consumed his body. Reno didn't even want to look at any of the clones.

Not one looked away as Reno began calling out to his saviors.

"Cloud! Cloud, they're gonna…:gasp: Help!"

Cloud was already on edge and began to dash forward after Reno. Sephiroth, calmly held out a hand, firmly pressing back on Cloud's chest and whispered, "They can handle it."

Alathia and Alexia had gathered enough energy for the transformation; they were just awaiting Reno's arrival and Jenova's first strike.

The girls stared ahead blankly as Reno frantically screamed and ran.

He was almost there… could almost see the color in their eyes… could hear Jenova fire at his backside. With a very calm outstretch of the hands, Alathia and Alexia suddenly transformed, creating a temporary barrier around Reno's exhausted figure. A small ringing echoed from the sudden transformation, and their long dreads calmly fell to their sides. The wind from Jenova's blast momentarily swirled around Avalanche and Co. as everything stood in a stare down.

"Humph… This may be harder than I expected." Jenova mumbled, looking the two Lilyous over with cold green eyes.

Reno fell to the ground right in front of Cloud gasping for air. He had never felt so happy to be alive.

"Yuffie, take care of him. Take him to the airship; we won't go after Jenova 'til you get back. Hurry." Cloud demanded, picking up the exhausted Turn and practically tossing him to her.

Reno wanted to complain about having to run again, but he had no time.

Jenova had already ordered an attack, and the clones were now closing in on the tiny group. Yuffie and Reno made a mad dash for the airship as everyone else called their summons.

Summoned creatures rained down on the clones, successfully destroying at least ¼ of Jenova's army just by landing. Some of the summons included Ifrit, Shiva, Phoenix, Kjata, Alexander, Typhoon, Bahamut, Bahamut Zero, Ramuh, Titan, Hades, and Knights of the Round.

The Lilyous had taken to making their way towards Jenova, and her silver haired children weren't far behind.

The clones seemed to fall to pieces after one strike. They were made of mako! And they were supposed to have the defensive skills identical to Sephiroth… Jenova was quite disappointed. The six were tearing through her defense as if they were water, and all that remained in their wake were little piles of black goo. Still she sat, perched a top a burning bright red mako throne, watching the events as they unfolded.

¾ of her army lay in piles of black goo in the pure white snow as the summons tore through. Avalanche chose to stay behind and wait for Yuffie. Three lines away… Two… One line of Sephiroths away from Jenova… the Lilyous could almost feel the hatred pouring from her form. Suddenly she got up and lunged at them, two Soubas in hand.

Everything became a blur of hair, discolored skin, sparking metal, and glowing energy as the three engaged in a heavy weaponry fight. Alexia shot at Jenova as she actually ran sideways along the rock walls. She was knocked back as Jenova leapt off the rock wall and clothes lined her. Soon after the attack, Sephiroth clones poured out of a small cave, swarming around the horrible woman, and carrying her deep within the mountain.

"Damnit." Kadaj spat, helping up the gigantic Lilyous and watching the eight clones make off with his mother.

The rest of her army had been destroyed. Alathia and Alexia dropped their energy levels and became human again (Yes, lets just pretend that SOMEONE made uniforms for them that DIDN'T rip to shreds during transformation).

The six calmly rested at the mountainside as Avalanche called their summons back and reunited with each other.


	37. Chapter 37

Part III

"Alright… Everyone ready for this?" Cloud asked, popping a restore into his armor and curing everyone to full health.

Everyone nodded solemnly.

It'd taken a lot out of everyone. Before the healing, many of them sported cuts and stabs to the arms, legs, chest, and abdomen. Many had lost quite a considerable amount of blood.

Wearily, the group clamored into the cavern and followed the line of defending clones, and crackling noises, right to Jenova's lair. Her slitted eyes bore down upon the group as she sat atop her 'baby'. This crystallized mako serpent greeted them, with Jenova at the heart.

So that was how she'd been getting around in the lifestream.

The glowing serpent poised itself for a strike as Jenova manned controls for the creature.

Again, Avalanche and Co. called their summons. She defeated all of them before they 'd had the chance to lay a blow on her.

Avalanche stood… startled at its power, and not really knowing quite what to do next. "Give up, you have nothing left. Don't you get it," Jenova hissed, having her serpent wrap its long tail around her children.

"You belong to me."

The four struggled with all their might; Kadaj scratching and biting at the hardened mako, Loz punching it, Yazoo smacking his gun over it and shooting, and Sephiroth trying his best to cut through it with his Mesamune. Nothing worked.

"Oh, let me show you a little trick I taught it." Jenova cooed, pressing a few of her buttons.

Avalanche watched helplessly as the serpent charged up, releasing its energy through the tail, and into the silver haired men's bodies.

Their heart wrenching screams echoed off the crater wall as their bodies went stiff with electricity. Jenova turned off the power a moment later and chuckled as all four of them went limp.

"Put them down!" Alathia growled, kicking at the serpent's side.

"Very well."

She dropped them, and they landed on the cold stone floor with a sickening thud. Jenova then proceeded to pummel everyone, including the Lilyous… They all lay in a bloody pile, heaped on the stony floor of the dark crater.

Still, her children had not moved.

Alathia and Alexia somehow managed to detransform (if at all possible lol) and crawl over to the men.

Kadaj let out a small whimper as Alathia cradled him in her arms. He squeezed his eyes shut and grasped the sleeves of her jacket.

"I-it hurts." Was all he said.

They were all awake, but dared not move. Any tiny little movement they made sent sharp pains shooting through their body. Jenova's serpent's grip had crushed their ribs, and the electricity made their nerves very sensitive to touch.

Alexia softly stroked Yazoo's hair and listened to his raspy breath.

"I'm not going back…she… I don't want to be used… can't go back… No, no no no no." he murmured, huddling into a small ball.

"Oh, I think you will. You'll come back to me my baby. Who else do you have to go to?" Jenova cooed, jumping out of the snake and using her powers to levitate her children towards her.

Kadaj was taken out of Alathia's arms as well as Yazoo taken away from Alexia.

Sephiroth hissed in pain, as he was the first to reach Jenova.

"Let them go. Its me you want; they're nothing." He growled, referring to his squirming brothers.

Jenova smirked playfully and coolly stroked his long silver hair.

"Don't worry my child. They won't be holding us back any longer. You and I can travel the lifestream… bringing the planet to its knees. And we'll go to the Promised Land together, just you and me. I'll make more brothers for you there. We don't need these… failures."

Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj began screaming as their bones literally began to cave in. Their evil mother was laughing maniacally as she slowly began making a fist, crushing their bones with her powers… taking her sweet time with destroying her babies.

After a while… they stopped screaming, and Jenova again dropped them on the ground.

Alexia and Alathia's jaws dropped as they saw the events occur. Something snapped within them… this time they could feel the transformation coming on its own. The anger must have triggered it.

Their teeth clenched back the screams as they listened to their bones cracking and literally felt them growing. Their skin burned as it slowly began to change color. The pain blinded them as their eyes changed… finally; the Lilyous fell to their knees, in their complete form and screamed.

You could almost feel the energy passing through the air as everyone's hair stood on end.

So much energy was passing through the Lilous' bodies, it formed craters underneath them. They continued screaming as bright, white light lit the crater, and everything became consumed with it.

When things became visible once more, all of Avalanche stood in combat mode, all healed, all fine. The silver haired men were ok too. Although they were wobbling about uncoordinated and a BIT disoriented, they were all healthy and fine.

Sephiroth held Jenova by the throat… he wasn't holding it tightly, but both were staring at each other angrily.

"You're nothing but mako and a few of your original skin cells… hm." Seph murmured to himself, looking her mako body over.

"Your snake's gone." Kadaj piped in, shaking the dizziness from his head.

The three brothers joined Sephiroth and formed a circle around their evil alien mother.

Sephiroth dropped the alien on the ground, and the men put their hands together. Bright light emmited from their palms and quickly engulfed the silver haireds. When the light finally dimmed, all that was left was charred ground. No more Jenova.

Alathia and Alexia were their normal human form by the end of this. They stood, calmly waiting for everyone to walk up to them.

Kadaj and Yazoo lead the pack.

"What was that!" Kadaj blurted out, hugging her happily.

"… I don't know ." Alathia answered back, being totally serious.

"Mmm, I have a feeling we can't transform anymore." Alexia sighed, dusting off the arm of her long coat. The very last swipe knocked the arm off completely, and she huffed with annoyance.

"Really… so that's it?" Yazoo gasped, looking at her with big dumb eyes.

"Yeah… its all gone."

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The group emerged from the crater a little while later to find it was raining.

"Um, shouldn't it be…ya know… snowing?" Kadaj laughed.

It probably should have… The fact of the matter was… it was healing water. Not only was it raining at the Northern Crater, but all over Gaia. The healing water poured down over the people of the land, vanquishing the Geostigma.

Children splashed about in the pool of water in the sector five church. Yes, Zack and Aeris managed to finish it on time. Everything seemed to be going great.

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	38. Chapter 38

The early morning sun peaked through Seventh Heaven's spare bedroom as the girls quickly stuffed their belongings and some souvenirs into their duffle bags. This was it… they were leaving.

By 6:15 am the two were headed out the door… relishing the cool dew that splashed on their bare legs.

They were going home; where things were less complicated.

Across a foggy field they sprinted, towards the nearest docking town… where the man awaited their arrival. Things couldn't get any easier. The hardest part was avoided: the goodbye. Yes, things would be good when they returned.

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"Mmm… the heck's wrong with you. Its 6:30 in the morning?" Kadaj grumbled into the cell phone.

Why'd he bother picking the darn thing up?

"It's the girls Kadaj… they're headed for the docks… headed home." Cloud replied solemnly, opening the note Alexia and Alathia had left before sneaking out of the house.

Kadaj's form went rigid. At first he didn't know what to do… could Yazoo and he make it all the way from Cosmo Canyon to the docks in time? Or would they be too late?

"Are you still th-" Cloud's voice was cut off as Kadaj snapped the phone shut and did a mad rush around the room.

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"Ready girls?"

"As ready as we'll ever be… C'mon hurry. I have a really bad feeling about staying." Alexia growled, tossing her duffle bag onto the boat and hopping on a moment later.

Alathia hadn't said a word.

"Alright… off we go then. Please make yourselves comfortable."

The engine rumbled a moment after he'd walked into the cockpit, and the boat slowly began to move away from the shore. Alathia's stomach lurched and Alexia gasped as they watched two dark figures sprinting towards the now empty dock…

They were too far from shore to get off and return.

Kadaj screamed "Wait please! Don't go Alathia… I love you! Please don't leave me!"

Alathia clasped her hands over her mouth as the tears began to well up in her eyes… She turned away so she couldn't see them.

Alexia and Yazoo just stared at each other very calmly at first.

But slowly, she watched as his relaxed hands balled into fists and his thin jaw clamped shut tightly. Yazoo furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips, trying anything he could not to scream.

It didn't work…

"I HATE YOU!" was the only words that escaped his lips as he watched her turn away for the last time.

The two stayed at the docks and watched the boat until it was nothing more than a speck in the early morning sun.

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The men returned back to Cosmo Canyon to find all of Avalanche and their remaining brothers waiting for them.

"Kadaj… I found this. I think you two should read it." Cloud stated, casually handing him the letter.

Yazoo shifted his weight uncomfortably behind his younger brother when he realized all eyes were on them.

With a shaky yet firm hand, Kadaj opened the little piece of paper and read it aloud.

"Dear Yazoo & Kadaj,

Before you go off about how we just up and left you, and how you truly hate us for this unforgivable crime… keep in mind, this must be how our family and friends feel right now (Kadaj: … Oh gods… We never told them…)

…

We miss them. And although we know we'll miss you just as much,

You can't expect us not to go back. We HAVE to see what we left behind. We have to make the decision to stay where we want… on our own. Please understand, we're not leaving because we don't want to be here… we're leaving because of… well, unfinished business.

We hold this place very VERY dear to us… but remember… We have families and friends on the mainland that we love too…

We couldn't stand the thought of never seeing them again… at least not without saying goodbye.

This letter is not meant to beg for forgiveness, and this isn't goodbye. Its just… we weren't happy here.

We swear, we'll be back… Let us go and we promise, within a year or so we'll be back. Even though the lilyous form is gone forever, we still have their instincts. We know our way back.

We love the both of you… Please, just let go.

-Sincerely and always yours,

Alathia & Alexia

P.S. Don't break any of our stuff… We may need it when… we come home."


End file.
